The Writing Place

A favorite place to write and get ideas.

At the writing place

I assume attentiveness:

evanescent steam escapes

my coffee to the open

expanse of the corridor;

from a plastic table I watch

the random movements of a

smattering of people in

festive utilization of

the mall.  The hour is late.

Clean up and close up actions

are under way at the shops;

people move resolutely 

to the exits--another sip

of coffee embraces me

like the vibrant morning sun;

lights fade, teenagers giggle

and step lightly in the firm

exuberance of their youth.

I search for thought and meaning

and inspiration to enhance

the import of flowing ink;

the last faint wisps of vapor

rise up over the edge of

the white Styrofoam cup, a

reminder of inner warmth;

dust pans clatter against a

wine-red floor as corn brooms swish.

For a modicum of time

I maintained a consumptive

vigil at the writing place.

Reviews

[Sarai Lee]

Your writing place sounds like a lovely place to people watch! I really enjoyed how you described that process of just sitting and observing the world around you. That is where we draw our inspiration from. Thank you for sharing this! Well done!

[Mary]

Richard, I really enjoyed reading this poem- it's good to pay homage to the special place one goes to for inspiration. I love the imagery and flow of the poem, and how you move from inner warmth to the clatter of dustpans. Well done.

[zainul]

Very simple idea of writing highlighted so lovely.

[Sasha]

Right away, I can tell you I was reminded of what "modicum" meant, so that's always a bonus. Again, this is a very eloquent of saying, "I enjoy writing in the mall while drinking coffee and watching people go by." My favorite line was, "another sip of coffee embraces me like the vibrant morning sun;" That's just beautiful. It's like the part of a song a singer does SO WELL people start to applaud. The whole song may be great, but there's something about the way you sung that part in particular. Very nice.