"But first, baby, as you climb and count the stairs (and they total the same), did you, sometime or somewhere, have a different idea?
Is this, baby, what you were born to feel, and do, and be?"

-Kenneth Fearing



Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Single Serving

*after Edward Hopper's Automat



















It's not such a terrible thing
to be alone, except for those
nights when the coffee is lousy,
but you drink anyway, because
no one would hear you complain.

This is a night of wearing down,
of ticking, of erosion becoming visible.
Call it a blue table night of the soul.
Even if someone occupied
the chair across from you,
What would you tell him; that
you've dreamed a life of circles
and lived one in squares?

He would say; "look into your
cup. Rest your head on the
table. The lights will keep you
safe, and when you wake
it will all be true."


         -Brent Allard

5 comments:

  1. Well thanks so much! And I'm happy it helps for whatever reasons it does!

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  2. You capture the feel of Hopper's work beautifully.

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  3. I think we all "blue table nights of the soul" sometimes. That's a beautiful line. Lovely poem.

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  4. Thanks Sweepy! Yes, I believe we all do.

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