Friday, March 28, 2003

for katherine

she sits and shreds the napkin slowly.
it is noon.
she has waited for an hour.
the bottom of the cup
with its dregs of coffee
seems to wink up at her
saying, he's not coming.
but she knows this.
her book lies on the table
accusingly. she has not touched
it. she knows what she will
find in her own handwriting
in its pages.
the coffee shop door tinkles
and she looks up, not
really expecting to see
him. she is not wrong.
she looks away.
even the shop clerk knows
and she fingers the
print on her shirt.
"Dump Him."
the napkin lies in a
pile of finely ravished confetti.
she grabs her book and leaves.

Sunday, March 16, 2003

peering in

the image is fuzzy, revealing
smiling faces - flushed and dazzling
one solitary moment
anticipation
and it has been so many years
the grinning people changed and
worn by time
worn into caricatures of the
portraits they once were.
like so many ancient photographs
you peer in, trying to make out
that pivotal moment, what
were they thinking?
were they as happy
as they seemed?
who are they?
searching the backs and corners
for a date, a name, a clue -
wishing you could dive into
the paper and experience
the moment,
become a smiling face
inside a photograph.