A New Lifestyle

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by James Tate




People in this town drink too much
coffee. They're jumpy all the time. You
see them drinking out of their big plastic
mugs while they're driving. They cut in
front of you, they steal your parking places.
Teenagers in the cemeteries knocking over
tombstones are slurping café au lait.
Recycling men hanging onto their trucks are
sipping espresso. Dogcatchers running down
the street with their nets are savoring
their cups of mocha java. The holdup man
entering a convenience store first pours
himself a nice warm cup of coffee. Down
the funeral parlor driveway a boy on a
skateboard is spilling his. They're so
serious about their coffee, it's all they
can think about, nothing else matters.
Everyone's wide awake but looks incredibly
tired.

Comments

  1. LydiaJuly 29, 2010 at 4:37 AM

    A new look around here! Nice, very nice. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. RudeeJuly 29, 2010 at 10:46 AM

    No matter how many sleepless nights or anxiety attacks I have fueled by caffeine, they'll have to pry my coffee cup from my cold, dead hands.

    ReplyDelete
  3. smartzJuly 30, 2010 at 1:54 PM

    So, I just finished a cup of java, getting it in just under the wire (or stay up all night thinking about my caffeine issues). Thanks for the poem

    ReplyDelete

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Hey, thanks for your thoughts and your time:>)

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