Four Poems for Four Things in a Coffee Shop

The Blue Pants Waiting in Line

make everything all right above and below her magenta sweater like the prow of a ship in its wake or the drapes on the waist of the Venus de Milo lines diving into the lines curving out of line

Trash Can

the light beige plastic weight-dropped top that everyone presumes to ignore in the middle of the room

Chair

The chair bears it all. A deft relation to the ass, an apt relation to the floor.

The Milk Urn

from the table of milk and honey stainless steel, ancient form with a handle on the problem and a spout for the solution an esthetic balance between weight and durability pleasure and nutrition dispensing with milk and providing control and grace

27 September 1975