The Morgantown Suites: Danielle

The poet told me I had to find a poem that had gratitude or thankfulness for today's posting (hey, it is Thanksgiving!). So I went to the site (www.cityoflegends.com) and on the poetry page, engaged the FreeFind search to find all poems containing "gratitude" or "thanks". Then I picked the one that kept the letter of the law while perhaps violating the spirit of it. It's from his 2005 book THE MORGANTOWN SUITE POEMS and describes a server at The Blue Moose Cafe he observed one morning during his 2002 tour for LOVE GODS OF A FORGOTTEN RELIGION and how her personality (and beauty) interacted with the customers over breakfast.


The Morgantown Suite: Danielle

Danielle serves attitude with the coffee
she barters to the men who wander
in every morning to see her dance
a strange ballet for them, half flirtation,
half static, and a sliver of gratitude
for showing up to give her something
to do with her morning.

trading barbs with the customers
who come there as much for her
sleek physique as for the smell
of South American bean soup with cream
and sugar while they read their
newspaper while she's watching -
and watch her when her back is turned.


William F. DeVault. all rights reserved.