Friendly's

the first thing to be noticed
after swinging open the
squeaky door that shuts
hard behind you
is the constant mutter of the
latest gossip
how shitty the rain has been to the crop
what Bob did after his wife left him.
in the background you can hear the
clinging and clinking sounds
metal spoons
stirring cream into a thick mug
of hot coffee
glass salt shakers taken out of their
hole on the side of the table
the plates being clacked down onto
the old table with an order of fresh
biscuits and gravy with eggs.

as the waitress
whose images looks fitting to the place
stops by and asks what you’d like to drink
a simple look up to order a cup of coffee
in a split comes an
inch thick cup of
better than Star-bucks
coffee.
sweet-n-low does the trick
the waitress pulls out her
ordering pad because
nobody uses a
menu
except for the people from
outa town.
after jotting down the specifics
taking the first sip of coffee
you can look around and take a
step back in
time.
the old smoky smell even
adds to the flavor and excitement
only thing that changes are
the faces inside and maybe
the prices.

sometimes I think everybody needs something like that
unchanging
steady
you can wake up in the morning and know it will still
be there.
its comforting
a sort of home-like feeling
and you’ll always find someone
you know.

the caffeine is starting to kick in
that last bit of egg is too cold now
all is telling you its time to go
but
you don’t want to.
you find peace in the
sounds and smells
never the less you grab the
greased stained check
pay and leave a few bucks
always trying to be
inconspicuous about the tip
after giving a fare-well salute
to the old grease mop
a fuddle for the keys and
a few more steps
takes you away
back to reality
back to a job
a house payment and
kids.
but you look forward to
tomorrow morning to
find the smoky tranquility of
yesterday.