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NOT YET
The man walked into the old dinerlooking not at all happy,dressed in what looked likea white robe he found in some alley. He ordered coffee and glancedaround, as if seeking onefamiliar face, finding manythat looked like that of his father, like him,for that matter, and he knewfrom this quick glance thatthey were not yet ready,…
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FRUITED PLAINS
As I was cutting up our breakfastfruit this morning, the name Lynette“Squeaky” Fromme came to mind. I would have thought it would beCesar Chavez, given half the fruitwas from California, and I had no thoughtof Gerald Ford or any Republican President,never before at least one full cup of coffeeand generally not even then, but there…
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AN AWAKENING
Take one partGrand Marnier, oneFrangelico, a short cupof coffee, whipped creamonly if you wish,curl on the sofawith your life’sgreatest loveand your firstreal, truly yourfirst Christmas Evemakes you wonderwhy you waitedso long. First published in The Poet: Christmas (2020 United Kingdom)
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PAYMENT IN FULL
On this day I will give the cat a bath.this involves an elaborate ceremony,as befits an almost unique occasion. I awaken at the usual hour, performmy usual bathroom ritual, to the mirthof the cat who curls up on the dirtylaundry in the basket in the closet. I dice the pear, slice the banana,pluck and carefully…
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MINDFUL(L)
The Buddha said that any task you doif done mindfully is a sort of meditation.We assume he said it, we’ve been toldhe did, but no one I know was anywherenear that bodhi tree, so we take it on faith.When it comes to things like choppinglarge quantities of onions, or roastingcoffee beans I totally get it,…
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WIEN
We were walking around Vienna, Wien,the river cruise boat arriving early, dropped off into the city center, toldwe had precisely two hours to wander,or we’d make our own way back,and risk missing lunch and the formal tour. We wandered, following instructions,looking in vain for a café where wecould get an Austrian cappuccino, and perhapsa pastry…
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WINDOW VIEW
He knew she had a specialmeaning for him the first timehe saw her, from his usual seatby the window in the diner, waitingfor his bagel and cream cheese, and she at the table alongthe window of the Starbucks acrossthe street, which might as wellhave been an ocean, so unlikelywas either to make a crossing. By…
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LATTE
At the coffee shop they chatter as if in some foreign tongue, conversations overlaid one on another on another, until all I can strain are snippets of words, stray syllables. This is true everywhere I have visited, and it promises good coffee, for I have found that when I can easily eavesdrop on others at…
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MORNING
It is late morning and with five hours sleep I am renting my fourth cup of coffee I look forward to night.
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SUMMER, THEN
For three days I was a short order cook a change from my table duties when the regular guy decided that a night of drinking didn’t end when the bar closed and broke back in through the rotting back door that was always next on the list of things to be fixed. The owner, my…
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an old writer and his words 