Breakfast by Myself
by Jota Boombaba
—Pattaya, Thailand 2013
To start, I spark a cigarette
remove my frames so I can’t see
the stares of strangers passing by
their kind, misguided sympathy
They must presume I must be sad
sitting solo at a table set for two
no hand to squeeze, no one to thank
for sparing me their sorry stares
But I’m not blind: I stare, too
couples leaning back in wicker chairs
some laconic, poking at porridge
each alone devising their escape
Others gab, chatting up the rain
jabber rolls like rice across the floor
bored companions act amused
grateful to be spared my sorry state
Yet I am not alone, not with paper
not with more than fifty years of ink
not with you a world or life away
you now nodding—yes, yes, yes
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