In This Café’s Corner

[petaeraugustus]

In this café’s corner,
see the Maoist conversing the Miltonist, with
which one smiling more militant? A boy
with the face of young Odysseus brings my brew,
and I thank him for all life he’s waged through
to bring me such: O sagas of the stranger’s gaze,
(within phantasmal seams, what fantasies encapsulate?
you are trilogies I will never finish
you are nine tenths of an iceberg
beneath water’s surface
you are something else
you are
at the next table,
you are the musclemen laughing with the mussulmen
you are the journalist interviewing the philanthropist
you are the professor proofing over students’ theses
you are something i do not find strange watching
you are something i dream from a distance
you are secondhand smoke, you are the copy of Brothers
Karamazov on coffee table before me: I pick you up.

[petaeraugustus]

Any title suggestions? I suppose the one it has now is tentative, I don't much like it.

[ladymaybebaby]

I'm not really thinking of titles beacuase I'm too busy loving this piece! You could have called it Chair and I wouldn't have cared! This is a standout spotlight worthy write. I love all of the things that you notice as you sit there, the things you realize you won't finish, what people remind you of, the trivial taks of the day as you decide to pick up the cup of coffee from the boy that with the face of the young Odysseus. Suberb work. How about simply "Observations"? Just a thought. It lets your works speak and doens't clutter them in any way. Glad I got to read this gem!

-LMB
xoxo

[musie]

petaeraugustus~ Quite a different piece, yet so intriguing and creative....I thought Exquisitely written really, and I don't say that very often, I DON'T think....What came to my mind as a Title was simply "You Are"....If you do not like the Title you have...I have to agree with LMB...this is Spotlight worthy....Musie

[petaeraugustus]

Thanks so much for all the kind words everyone!

[flux]

I warmed to this poem immediately, I think because you show such a playful interest in the people around you, a generous kind of interest I would like to show more often but don't. You also display an admirable degree of imaginative thinking, imagination lends the world colour, lends the world feeling where there might otherwise be nothing but dry observation, and this is far more than simple observation.

Well done, this deserves a spotlight.

[Ladywildalice]

This harkened back to my days roaming the campus of my early adulthood, seeking wisdom and experiences and trying to appear much more "worldly" and astute in my observations and sage words, when inside I was just a kid, trying my wings and looking for my place in the world. I love your atmosphere, described so acutely as to make me hear the clattering of coffee cups, my eyes stinging from the pipe and cigarette smoke, my ears buzzing with the multicultural accents and political and philosophical banter in the back ground.Congratulations on the Spotlight for this well written piece.

[dwells]

Some day I too will read that book, someday - but I have much to do and the time grows short. Much enjoyed the keen insights and cultural comparisons in this piece PA and congratulations, I need a refill - cheers!

[knpoet]

Enjoyed this imensely, petaeraugustus - sitting and watching the world go by from your corner of the Cafe, worlds unknown evolving before your bemused eyes - brilliant and most Spotlight-worthy, indeed!

Possible titles: well, you might try 'Odysseus Observed' or 'Cafe Corner Musings' - or you might just leave it as it is, it's fine and good and well worth reading again and again! Congrats!

Kathy

[jwesley]

Awesome - I loved it!! Hats off to you...

j.

[everhopeful]

The literary theme was effective in this one, as well as the subtle way you managed to characterise the speaker. It made for a scene that was easy to visualise though the speaker's eyes, which is always a nice way to approach a poem. You brought together a diverse series of characters before the speaker's focus switched to one of them in particular, woven with a lot of imagination and creative flair.
Congratulations on the spotlight!

[jsol]

I enjoyed reading this. I like how you elucidate your gazing into others' lives. Very cool, contemplative and creative.

[starscollide]

Really enjoyed this piece, so many different imageries it touches on. Nice work:)