published in Volume 6, Issue 2 on June 1st, 1999
I listen to ambition resonate
through the hallowed halls of
trendy bookstore coffee shops,
where its source, confined behind
a fortified counter, makes game
of the presidential scandal erupting
in Washington.
The probationary arrangement,
calls forth an amusing discourse -
coffee flavors, cakes and pies
with misleading titles, serves the
imagination more than the palate.
They converse on facts, and
create them when necessary
And each new patron symbolizes
inconvenience, a disfigured
gremlin that interrupts their
microcosmic world.
When he asks for service, they grope
with facial contortions, and language
distortions they serve up the flavor
of the day, insisting that the taste is
unique. "Mud flavored with a hint
of cedar wood," I think.
Their valediction is ingratitude.
Their comments - pitiless.
A premeditated retort emerges
through their stale teeth, stained
with beaned delight,
from a land where
indigent farmers scour
the crops for survival,
suspending their
judgment in patience.