By Misti Velvet Rainwater
Date: 23 November 1998

back door

I sit alone at a table
  in the corner
 sipping bitter Costa Rican coffee
  and he's talking to strangers
   about his tomato basil soup
   because Soup de Jour
     is his dream, his baby
  I make eye contact
  with a tall stranger
he's "Northern Exposure" beautiful
  and for a moment
 I imagine the possibilities
 but then he returns
   to the table
   to finish our game
     of checkers
 and because he reminds me of Marlon Brando
      in his prime, sometimes
  and because he buys me meals
       and calls me sweetheart
   I close
   the back door