I sit on the corner of a building hugging my knees
I peer into the store window
I see a reflection of a woman
Her hair pulled back into a messy bun
Some of the hair falling out at the sides
Her hair bright as the ocean blue
But fading just enough at the top that it looks like the blue sky
Her roots are starting to grow in, giving the blue a black contrast
Her eyebrows match perfectly to her hair
Her plump
Perfect
Full, red lips
The pale white skin, glistening in the sunlight
Her face drawing me in and I can’t look away
The bright
Bold
Cat eyed
Red glasses
Hiding the eyes behind them are dim
Soon gazing off into the distance lost in thought
You turn to see what she is looking at
You see a mother a few block down holding her baby in one hand
The woman is disheveled
Dirty
Frail and scrawny
You see the mother wave down a woman and yell “Just take my fucking kid, I don’t want it!”
The mother hands over the child to the stranger, and walks a few more block running into a man
The man gives the mother a bottle of jack and an eight ball of heroin
The mother says thank you
Walking toward me
She is looking down ashamed
Soon running into me at the corner of the building
She looks down at me
Tears streaming down her eyes as she walks away and whispers “I am so sorry.”
You break your gaze and train of thought…
After hearing “Get out of the way you bum!”
From a man on his way to work
Walking briskly down the sidewalk clutching his briefcase
You look in the distance
The woman and the baby gone
You get up, brushing yourself off
Checking your watch seeing that it is time to go to work
You walk briskly down the few blocks
Turning the corner on 8th street
And see A&J’s
Then look up at your restaurant
Your life’s work, right at your feet
A smile appears on your face
You take a deep breathe
Pushing the doors open, hearing the ciaos
Preparing for the long day ahead
-
Author:
Ash (
Offline) - Published: February 15th, 2017 13:29
- Category: Short story
- Views: 100
Offline)
Comments4
WELCOME ASH ~ Thanks for your first mega poem. Love all the images you paint in this poem ~ the Agony & Ecstasy of All Human Life. We can all relate at some level ! I love the ending because "Restaurants" are a key feature of any Mall in any Town in any Country. A place not only of sustenance but also of discourse ~ AMEN Thanks for caring & sharing ~ BRIAN
Great story-telling in poetic form. Sounds as though it would be a tough place to run a restaurant. Your heroine needs further adventures/observations. There must be a pack of stories from inside that restaurant. Liked your style, raw, honest, straight to the point. - Phil A.
Well written and expressed Great write
Now this is my kind of poem
A story in every word.
Love it... you write as
I do, trying to tell a
Story in poetic words.
If you get a moment
Read some of my other
Poems, they are very
Much in the vane
Of yours
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