I asked to be polite
But I was told to be respectful
What feels like a good thing
Interprets as a bad one inside
Physically if the person is
Not ready to receive
But we ask only to be nice
And they say wait
Sit over there in a chair
By the cold door
Because I’m afraid
You are too early! I comply
Reporting that the restaurant is
Nearly empty and my party
Will be here in twenty three
Minutes yet because I was
Polite you have requested for me
To sit and watch and listen
To the sounds of the space
Have a drink I do not want
Decorated festively indoors with
Candlelight that looks warm
Dried plants and the people
Begin to swarm into the space
And the music is inaudible
Unlike the voices as I watch the
System of your hosting
Which does not include me
In all the murmuring
Pick out tid bits of conversation
What is everyone talking about
“How do they know?”
Sixteen hundred hours doors open
I am still working on
Getting my guests here
So to sit still and relax is to
Be one with the chair
It feels much less like
Welcoming and more like the
Other way around
Meaning you are
Encouraged to sit
Down when the rest of
Your people are here
It’s an interesting dilemma
To want to be nice
When your body is
Annoyed by the system
Looking in the lost and found
To find more patience
I wonder how the food will taste
© GÄ
Poétique 