POEM FOR THE SHERMAN CAFÉ

(UNION SQUARE- SOMERVILLE,MASS. )

And who was or is

Sherman anyway?

As mysterious

As the bathroom

Wallpapered with

Satiric headlines

Of a defunct rag--

A rare species

Of newsprint graffiti.

The joint whines

Leonard Cohen

And the long-fingered

Women in the back

Knead the dough

Slapping them into scones--

Oh yes

And the lovers…

Across from one another

Their laptop screens almost touching

Tapping out their

Ritualistic song…

Yes

We are here

The gray beards

The purple-haired

The nose-ringed

The broken

High-pitched

Tragedy

Of sad

Comic voices

Some even

Offering gifts

To the help…

We

All sit,

And sip…

---Doug Holder