in starbucks, reading the cup:

"you
are a pioneer
in using recycled cups"

"everything we do, you do"

a man in a trench coat
sunglasses
suitcase
sits on a bench next to a thirty-something skinny girl
licking a lollypop

i'm not kidding

they are both smoking now
under a "no smoking" sign

you can't make this shit up

everyone seems to know the girl
everyone seems to know everyone in fact

we're living in a time
when people aren't afraid to be themselves
mad, insignificant loiterers
at a starbucks

did i arrive here in this strange town
in the middle of a convention?

what is a black girl in a short pink skirt doing
talking about "3 on 8" with a mexican in dirty boots?

the skinny girl just moved to a table
next to mine
it's just the two of us
and she asks "i wonder if we can smoke on the patio"
but she isn't looking at me
there is nobody else here
the convention moved on
and i answer, under my breath, "i won't stop you"

she may be a prostitute
she may be high
she may be momentarily shy
but i can't help wondering why
women continue to throw themselves into the cage with lions

i return to work:
where i can be myself