JAKE MILLER
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Dolly's Cafe
Each morning I daydream down sidewalks
On a route past Dolly's Cafe.
On the way to work in the city
Much of an hour away.
A brisk pre-dawn hike down the neighborhood pike
Before most are up for the day.
In my suit and a tie, a button down guy
With a buttoned up resume.
A daily refrain in my private domain.
A serious trip straight away.
A drab and gray flight 'til the warmth of the light
That beckons from Dolly's Cafe.
From the outside it's brightly inviting
A comfortable, languid array.
A tableau of strangers that I'll never know
Framed in beguiling display.
Pretty young girls with feathery curls
Wait on customers starting their days.
They laugh and they smile and move all the while
In time to the tilt of their trays.
When I was a young man and wandered,
Unmarried, I've been made to say,
I occasionally teased with young girls like these
And sometimes they'd make time to play.
Those especially kind, if they had the mind
Or the time for a roll in the hay
Would wiggle and giggle and jiggle and purr
When their boyfriends were gone for the day.
[315]
Now those women are my age, and busy.
They have too much important to say
Than to trifle with threads that pass through my head
As I walk past Dolly's Cafe.
I am no longer bothered to wander.
And the comforts of age have their way.
I can only reflect that I didn't expect
No chance to go further astray.
I know I'll never have breakfast
Or sample the luncheon buffet.
For dreams of my own are pleasures unshown
On the menu at Dolly's Cafe.
[316]
Jake Miller was born in 1943, obtained his A.B. degree from Dartmouth
College, and his J.D. from Gonzaga University. He was admitted to law practice
in 1977. He is currently Assistant U.S. Trustee in the Eastern District
of Washington, in Spokane, Washington. |
