People Watching
Alone in a booth
A trumpet plays behind a tropical set of drums
Tortilla chips overflowing onto the table
A creamy green salsa tickles my tongue
A red cloth lays across my thigh
I feel like a matador
A Spanish women belts out a rhythm I can’t translate
The Ball game on at the bar leaves half a screen from my vantage point.
I can tell when a pitch is low at least
I admire the footwear
It’s odd watching batters from the waist down.
What else changes when we only see half of the truth
The 20 something girl with perfect complexion
Eating with what must be her grey haired father
She has a head of black silk the extends to her waist
Like the mane of a stallion with conchos on
The pair in front of me talking endlessly about some sort of boat repairs
Skin like dried apricots
Dock 7
Barge this
Mast repair that
Everyone has their own world
We meet at these places but we are all interrupting something
The seniors coming in at 1:47pm have me puzzled
Is this dinner?
How late was breakfast?
I hope I can handle spicy food in my 80’s
I guess I can handle anything from the grave
80 ha
A lot of people would lose money on that bet.
All the vehicles passing my window
Headed somewhere
Going nowhere at all
That was a strike!
What’s this ump looking at?
The top half?
Slather the top half of my quesadilla with an overpriced avocado
Worth every penny
The young lady has a great laugh
She looks soft for this world
I hope dads teaching her the truth about it all
Three feet from the woman is a painting
A Mexican woman leans against a rock in a traditional dress her black pigtails and pale face resemble this young lady to a T
What are the odds
She is a spitting image
The labor crews aren’t here it’s too far past lunch break
There’s a pair of guys here and there
Most in Astros Jerseys
I guess they want to see the whole game
Now I can’t get over this painting
It’s like this woman posed for it
Maybe she was the artist
Maybe she knows the owner
It’s too coincidental
I have to say something
Hi I don’t mean to intrude
My name is AJ Garcia
I’m a local artist and poet
I’ve been writing about this experience at lunch
And when I swept across the room
I couldn’t believe the uncanny resemblance you have to this painting
She leans over looks at the work and says oh the long hair
Not just the hair
Everything
The complexion
The hair the face the makeup
That laugh comes again
She smiles and says how funny
At least now she knows
A violin plays from everywhere
This restaurant is a wonderful place to experience life
How funny
That line always blows my
Mind
If it’s funny then LAUGH
She did both
I can accept that
The high branches of the Oaks sway outside
The vehicles continue like ants along a path
Still mostly white and grey
I’m part of it today
Running around in a company truck made for a giant
For someone who likes wallowing in the mud
If not for a step bar you would see a sideshow circus act as I attempt to climb aboard
There is something about a diesel engine and that sound though
I don’t have to worry about anyone on the road
They all worry about me
Feels nice to be the big guy instead of the fast one
Little flutters from a flute make it seem like the birds are singing in Mexico
Like the man playing for the dark haired maiden
I haven’t stopped smiling since I arrived
On my way back from the restroom
Which seemed like a color tile factory
The hostess and a server were looking at a a photo and laughing
“ I want to see”
She said sure come look it’s a side eyes meme
I’ve seen that look many times from a puppy that pretends not to understand English
They both laugh
No one says that’s funny
I smile and continue my journey
That server isn’t using her gifts
She is a vision of beauty
It seems so outlandish to people to believe that beauty is one of the free gifts
Be exactly what you are but less attractive and you will see what I’m talking about
I’m no ten by todays standards
But sit next to me and I’m off the charts
I was full two quesadilla slices ago
That sounds right it’s a Mexican pizza with a lid
I keep eating for values sake
Avocado and beef fajita
At these prices…
It was a ranchers scraps
Today is 30 bucks a pound
No wonder the Mexicans are singing
A Mexican grito always gets me going
I raise the Bull fighters muleta to wipe my mouth
Now it wipes the table
The waitress comes over and I explain my work
She can’t believe how accurate the art is
I know it’s like she sat for it
26.41
I have cash
31 keep it
I need to take a photo of the art to paint the picture later
Life of an Aphant
I need to head to the car rider line and smoke shop too
Guarantee its 200 ft away and not an inch more
Buys day doing nothing
I get paid to let my mind work
Art
Math
Poetry
Philosophy
I have yet to be paid though
But
If not this then it would have to be a sex worker
Online toe nail pictures dipping into banana pudding
Someone somewhere paying for that right now I promise
The archway blocking this game is making it more exciting
We should cut half off of a lot of things
Easy
Not that thing
I can’t afford to loose half
The backup camera in the truck says
“Never depend solely on the camera”
Shit - never depend solely on anything
Fly through the lot out into the ant line
Swing this bus into the puff palace
I’m addicted to a few things at a time but always nicotine
Today it’s like wearing a swastika in public
The judgment from every sorry piece of shit in the world is abhorrent
Today I’ve moved to the fruity vape that delivers the juice
Peach jam
White peach raspberry
Peach is a delicacy I love and when asked to pick a flavor
It’s that or
Mango
Don’t like it? Don’t buy it.
And stop reading my work
This is for the crowd not the judge and jury
Keep your opinions where you flush
I’ll put mine on paper so you have something to wipe with
What a gorgeous day
Back in the prison pick up line
Waiting on offspring
Nine months and now 30 minutes a day
PTA family bingo April 11th
That’s one I won’t miss while away
Maybe I’m almost bingo age
Wonder what the seniors know
Probably some secret you learn over 65
Like Santa or the tooth fairy
Maybe they will tell me where babies come from
Maybe they know where we are all gonna end up
Well maybe some of us
I can’t save you a seat up there
I wouldn’t anyway
You gotta earn it
There’s a bunch of folks I wouldn’t open the gates for
That would be heaven
If all the evil greedy devils couldn’t come in
See me dancing with Jesus
The streets of gold make
Me nervous though
Apparently they care about value or the streets wouldn’t need to be paved with gold
Beats the alternative either way