Wednesday, March 21, 2007

"A New Lifestyle" by James Tate


"Eight O'Clock Coffee, 1935" by Ralph Steiner

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.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just visited with a friend last night who is studying at UMass Amherst with Tate and Dara Weir. They are good peeps.

Dori said...

Did you write that? It could be out of a book, but you didn't quote it, so I'm guessing you wrote it?! If so, and if not, you are a good writer.

Meredith said...

Haha, Dori. Look at the title, friend. James Tate wrote it. :P

But thanks for thinking I might possibly in a million years could have written that.

Anonymous said...

my mom LOVES james taylor. HAHA.

Meredith said...

Hahahaha, Jess. James TATE, not TAYLOR. You're hilarious.

stoogle said...

I heard that read on the Writer's Almanac not long ago. Like it a lot!

-stephen

Tim Rhodes said...

Man oh man.... James Brown is stinking incredible!

Wait... oops. ;-)

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