life waiting for chips  .. .

.

..

the people came on Tuesday
then again on Wednesday
at the middle of the week
with their hands in pockets
minds trained upon the fishes
in paper packets

taters lay in bins of silver-grey
all the long day just soaking
waiting for the ladle, waiting
then in a frothing frenzy
taters fry as all good people
wait for them to do so

upon the day of Friday evening
Mother Mary she goes fishing
for a cod or a rock salmon
a halibut, a fillet plaice
a patty of roe; all dressed up
with fried taters to go

the kitchen staff arrive early
for their busy time at six
when people from their labours
form an orderly line for chips
impatient silences ensue
along the creeping queue

there’s a hush in the auditorium
chip potatoes in the fryer
are delayed and the players
dressed in blue striped blouses
caught in time avoid the eyes
of hungry faces in the line

they stand obliquely silent for
one breathing instant; a life class
of Hopper poses; real life stories
while yellow busses in the street
and men who walk their dogs
all go passing by

©edenbraytoday18.10.2024