The East Side of the City

   Loneliness and disparation are fiends that can strike at any time. They sank their fangs deep into me while I was sitting in a café one evening, surrounded by friends, warm drinks, and pastries. I was struck by the fact that I could not sit there one moment longer. I put my share of the bill on the table and departed and just kept walking. Happy stories don't always have substance, sad ones don't always have reason. Sometimes its hard to tell the difference.

  I walked with purpose, but without direction. Unconsciously I walked towards the Eastern side of the city, looking for something, maybe a release of some kind. I walked and walked, foot after foot on the pavement, earbuds in my ears dutifully playing music. In the distance the sun was beginning its descent below the mountain ranges that surrounded the city. Without warning I came upon a stone obelisk stretching towards the sky. It was surrounded by a playground. I decided to sit beside the obelisk and take a break. I think I switched artists or songs on my ipod, but I cannot remember whom from or to. I sat there, trying to catch my breath, trying to decide if the loneliness had abated at all or the restless anger that had become my shadow since leaving the café. I looked out at the city and inward at myself and still felt lonely and angry so I continued onward. The streets continued at an upward slant with concrete staircases snugly fit between alleyways. I saw a wooden vantage point overlooking the city and decided that would be my goal.

  Before arriving at the vantage point I stopped at the tienda to buy a large bottle of water. The shopkeeper was a very nice woman, she had been talking to a man just outside the shop as I approached. I asked her for a water and as she went to find it, the man outside the store put out his hand and introduced himself. I told him my name and where I was from when he asked. He seemed to be having a slight bit of trouble standing as he swayed back and forth, but for a moment he steadied himself as best as he could and clapped a hand on my shoulder and pointed between his eyes and mine and said to me in Spanish, "Remember this". Then he held out his hand to shake again, which I did. It was a strange and singular encounter. I took my water and waved to the man and the shopkeeper.

  I reached the vantage point and looked out at the stretching city with its endless array of houses, buinesses, bakeries with fresh breads, and beautiful churches. Down the road from where I was standing a large school was letting out and parents were picking up children carrying dioramas and colorful projects. I felt okay. I felt less lonely.

Autumn Evening in November

   Sitting at the coffee shop I had a unique moment or maybe it was very normal, but either way it actually occurred. I sat down to a table by the window so I could watch the cars go by and the sun finish setting, leaving the sky dark blue and full of clouds. The coffee shop was maybe half full, at best. Behind me sat a few high school girls talking about high school things. They seemed to be enjoying each other's company, telling little stories and laughing intermittently. A thin middle aged man came to the counter and ordered a tea for a his sore throat. He said he hoped it would help since he was on his way to coach high school varsity basketball so he needed his voice at full power.

 The real gem of the evening were the three elderly seniors talking by the fireplace. I'm not sure if they were three old friends, or a small club or three people who had fallen to the fate of Rip Van Winkle and were trying their best to piece together how the world had changed. The slightly portly gentleman and the gray haired-smiling woman sat in adjacent armchairs and the taller man with an arching forehead sat on the edge of the fireplace holding council over their little gathering.

  The taller man would say something like, "Now canned goods, that's the real ticket. With cans there's no expiration date, or if there is, it doesn't come for a long, long time. Saves you a lot of time worrying if something's gone bad or not. Mhmm, cans are real good, least that's what I say."

  Then the others would nod or murmur in agreement. The more portly gentleman might have added, "My favorite is Cream of Mushroom soup because its one of the few things I can still stand to put pepper on. I've always liked a bit of pepper from time to time."

  "Oh pepper! That's a real fine thing.", the taller man might reply, "You ever make yourself eggs? Maybe on a Sunday morning? Add a little pepper there; that's real nice"

  The portly man mumbled that he did enjoy eggs, but his stomach couldn't handle pepper on them anymore.

"Sometimes the hardest thing is eating healthy these days", The gray haired woman said from her armchair.

  "I hardly ever drink soda, you know.", boasted the man sitting on the fireplace.

"Because it doesn't taste very good?"

     "No, that's not it at all! Have you had a soda recently? Wow, they sure are tasty! But they're just carbonated water and sugar, that can't be healthy."

Again they all nodded and said, "That sure is true."

  The man with the high forehead, sitting by the fireplace continued, "Well to be honest, my real weak spot is cream cheese. My, oh my, it sure is good. I can go through a whole pound of cream cheese before the expiration date, I sure can. That date comes fast too! Somthing like five days after you buy it, but when I buy cream cheese, its always gone by that date. You know what, tonight when I go home I think I might have some cream cheese on crackers for dinner."

  "Just crackers and cream cheese and nothing else?", the gray haired woman asked

"Yep, just crackers and the cream cheese."

    "No preparation there at least.", the gray haired woman ventured.

They probably talked about some other things, but they didn't stay much longer. I thought the three of them were just great. Sitting there, somberly, happily talking about such little things as if discovering them for the first time and discussing the merits of these simple things.

The Tallest Man On Earth
Love is All

Straight Into the Water

You dropped me
straight into the water,
you left me
in the middle of the sea,
'Fore you left me
you said
"Don't talk to the otters:
you said,
"just don't touch them ponies"

Or that's what I thought
I heard,
but it might have
 been something like
blub blub,
blub blub blub blub,
It was hard to hear
 your voice from
  beneath the waves

Now if you did say
ponies in fact,
I have to say,
I don't quite
know what you meant
All the sea-horses are
downright cordial
and the small ones
seem to be made
 of nothing but pure whimsy

Maybe you said Hippos
instead of ponies
now the hippo on the other hand get downright moody
and some days
they're more than a little angsty.
A Hippo tantrum
is no small load to bear

The otters, though
sly and playful,
have never once
led me astray

You dropped me
straight into the water
you left me,
but perhaps
I should be glad

Walk the Moon
Tightrope