Dude

So I’m sitting in this place called

Kafe Kerouc and in walks this dude

with wiry black hair, shoulder length,

tucked behind each ear and he asks,

“Where’s a place I can get vegan?”

And another dude sitting by himself

wants to know whether since he’s vegan

does he have this or that hang-up?

And the vegan dude says, “Well not right now.”

And the server dude says, “Can I get you

anything else?” And the vegan dude

says, a catalytic converter.” Then a jazz dude

who has been sitting in the corner rambling

monotonically about the life of Miles Davis

as though he had lived with him says,

“Dude that’s bad for the environment!”

And the vegan dude says, I do all 

sorts of bad things.” The jazz dude

looks around and  returns his gaze

to the server dude and says, “Dude!

Let’s go out and have a cigarette.”

All this time I’m sitting there playing 

chess – the oldest dude in this place

 by at least thirty-five years.