“I’ve been wanting to read that book,” he says
“It’s incredible,” I tell him

I write his name on the receipt
He carries the pot of coffee loosely
I know that I’ll probably forget to send him the book later
But in this moment
I believe I might
CLYDE. in blue ink, adding Just Kids.

Two biscuits from the kitchen
Ham and eggs to my right
Fried eggs with Cholula on the left
A bar counter of singles
Swiveling, forking hash browns
The kids behind us with Giants t-shirts
And “a chicken apple sausage for my man!” Clyde says.

I take the last sip of my orange juice
her voice whispers a song
along the counter to all of the parties of one
At laaasssst
My loooovvve has come along
My looooooooonely days are over
And I pay the bill
for my scrambled eggs
and toast
with that grape jelly and sweet cream butter wrapped in foil
I smile goodbye to Clyde
collect my sketchbook
my five pens
my first edition copy of Just Kids
bookmarked on that last bit of carefully underlined text —

We had our work and each other

My mouth tastes of oranges
I sit still, listening closely to how the song ends
I found a dream that I could speak to
A dream that I can call my own
I found a thrill to press my cheek to
A thrill that I have never known

At last.