“If I wasn’t bored,”

Doug Raphael

I wouldn’t have walked into that corrugated shack 

by the trailer park and ordered a coffee. 

I wouldn’t have known they keep fresh Grouper on ice,

that Pastel de Nata is like silk wrapped in rice

I wouldn’t have heard the dog chained out back,

barking like a train heading off the track

I wouldn’t have watched three guys watch a Portuguese football match,

hissing like back-alley cats,

as they downed one Super Bock after another with fries 

My skin wouldn’t have stuck to the metal stool and 

the damp wood walls to my lungs

I wouldn’t have seen the sparkle in Juan’s,

the fisherman’s eyes, pounding the table 

as we all sung along

I wouldn’t’ have bought a round for strangers I just met

I wouldn’t have tasted life 

I wouldn’t have stayed that night.

Image: Daniel Schweb, Terry’s Coffee Shop, NY (2005)

Wikimedia Commons