15% Gratuity Added to Parties of Eight or More
Sounds of clattering plates and servers shouting at cooks
Echo from a hidden kitchen, and I remember the friends
(don't forget the enemies)
I've left behind, just to sit in this leather booth
A couple fighting, can't hear what they're saying
"Fuck you, I thought you loved me!"
"Fuck you, you think too much!"
(that's your own love life stupid)
Oh. Yeah. Right.
The smell of too much perfume clues me that the waitress
Is bringing a refill for my coffee. She smiles her well trained smile
(there's a fleck of pepper in her teeth)
And drops the check. Umbrellas are running by the neon lit window
(left it in the room again didn't you?)
And I curse myself while coughing from the smoke that
has penetrated the invisible barrier of the no-smoking sign
A rush of wind and the smell of sewer grates as another
couple walks in
He held the door for her
(you used to do that)
Two dollar bills held down by a ketchup bottle
(that's it?)
Fifty more cents, clatter on the transparent table
And I wait under the awning
Wondering when the rain will stop….