Quietly Waiting

Quietly waiting
we go home
to the same meal
and the electricity of our past loves
in a glass of water

and the pigeons don’t know

and the Chinese pervert at the wig store doesn’t know

the meth-head sneaking White Hen coffee
face like stucco

the whores
and the bicyclists

and the slow hands on the clock
of an eight-hour workday don’t know

It makes people mad

you can see it in kindergarten teachers
gas station attendants and trophy wives

cabbies asleep in a Wendy’s parking lot
and Metra attendants on their ritualistic smoke of the day
outside of Millennium Station at 8:15 a.m.

counting the days

‘til payday

while the pigeons

count their crumbs

and all we know

is that we’re quietly waiting

for something other than this

© 2008 Lee Kitzis