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Description
a solitary man strolls in
greeted by the background noise
of idle chatter
amongst the patrons of
a coffee shop
somewhere on broad street
somewhere near a college
some place he once knew
when he beheld the world
through younger, inexperienced eyes

strange how it looks
the same as it had before

another set of people
to replace the set of faces
he came to expect before
yet they all appear to have
exactly the same vexations
preoccupations with coffee orders
that mask the complexity of their lives
in some attempt to ask
the barista
to make everything right again

one person may ask for a latte
when they are truly asking
for escape from mediocrity
from the hamster wheel ritual
that has him working far more than he sleeps
and dreaming far less than that
stuck in an endless cycle
of caffeine, cigarettes, and regret
he pays the cashier
and walks out the door

another one, a more complicated order
a more complicated life behind her eyes
everything meticulous
a place for everything
and everything in its place
with borderline paranoia
that if the right amount of
happiness, sugar, and cream
are not present
she might realize something more
about herself
she might lose control
somehow
she pays the cashier
and walks out the door

a final patron
with nothing superlative to offer
he asks the barista for a suggestion
because he's run out of options
and needs another addiction
needs another one to guide him
somewhere beyond the coffee counter
and into the decisions
he can't seem to make by himself
he receives that spiritual guidance
that moment of bliss that might make
the pieces all fit together
properly
then he pays the cashier
and he walks out the door

foolish mortal world
why do you lose yourself
in complicated orders
and complicated lives
days in the sun
nights under the stars
with more knots in your fabric
than you can seem to unwind
the perspective of years
staring back upon
the perspective of immediacy
and yet you act as though
you possess immortality yourselves

the days are shorter
and the nights are more tenuous
than you can begin to imagine
and yet here i sit
the solitary man
the same as you
after all

Description
a solitary man strolls in
greeted by the background noise
of idle chatter
amongst the patrons of
a coffee shop
somewhere on broad street
somewhere near a college
some place he once knew
when he beheld the world
through younger, inexperienced eyes

strange how it looks
the same as it had before

another set of people
to replace the set of faces
he came to expect before
yet they all appear to have
exactly the same vexations
preoccupations with coffee orders
that mask the complexity of their lives
in some attempt to ask
the barista
to make everything right again

one person may ask for a latte
when they are truly asking
for escape from mediocrity
from the hamster wheel ritual
that has him working far more than he sleeps
and dreaming far less than that
stuck in an endless cycle
of caffeine, cigarettes, and regret
he pays the cashier
and walks out the door

another one, a more complicated order
a more complicated life behind her eyes
everything meticulous
a place for everything
and everything in its place
with borderline paranoia
that if the right amount of
happiness, sugar, and cream
are not present
she might realize something more
about herself
she might lose control
somehow
she pays the cashier
and walks out the door

a final patron
with nothing superlative to offer
he asks the barista for a suggestion
because he's run out of options
and needs another addiction
needs another one to guide him
somewhere beyond the coffee counter
and into the decisions
he can't seem to make by himself
he receives that spiritual guidance
that moment of bliss that might make
the pieces all fit together
properly
then he pays the cashier
and he walks out the door

foolish mortal world
why do you lose yourself
in complicated orders
and complicated lives
days in the sun
nights under the stars
with more knots in your fabric
than you can seem to unwind
the perspective of years
staring back upon
the perspective of immediacy
and yet you act as though
you possess immortality yourselves

the days are shorter
and the nights are more tenuous
than you can begin to imagine
and yet here i sit
the solitary man
the same as you
after all