Big Red House - Poem

A new poem kinda inspired by the "olden days" for some reason.

Thankfully I finish when the sun dims.
I struggle to walk back home.
Because I can't afford the trolley.
It might only be a tent.
But at least it's something.
Take a couple swigs of my flask.
Hope to numb these body pains.
If the mines don't get me.
The poison will most definitely.
Will rest for an hour or so.
To let the medicine flow.
Then I'm off to hit the town.
To find a cure for the blues.
No credit to my name.
Only a ten in my hand.
Not interested in gambling it away.
The parlors have already taken what I had.
No, I need a place where I can be treated like a man.
That big red house on the corner.
Where I'm lucky regardless of what I spend.
The girls line up as I enter the door.
Smiles on their faces until they notice it's a regular.
Look for my Pauline, a brunette that stands apart.
The others are blondes.
With whom I've only chatted, I've seen no hearts.
Spotted alone at a table.
Looking incredibly bored.
She glances my way and asks,"Back for more?".
Shaking my head yes we make our way upstairs.
I'd marry this woman in a second.
But she only sees me as another customer.
Reaching what I call "our room".
We are alone at last.
On the wooden bed she sits, and again I ask.
"Will you marry me now?"
With an eye roll she pouts.
"Not this again, how much do you have to spend?"
Saddened, but not broken I hand over my ten.
She knows sometime I'll try again.
In that big red house on the corner.
My love works.
And I wait.