{"id":8948,"date":"2013-11-12T23:06:26","date_gmt":"2013-11-13T03:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/?p=8948"},"modified":"2013-11-12T23:08:01","modified_gmt":"2013-11-13T03:08:01","slug":"tuesday-night-eating-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/johncohn.org\/base\/2013\/11\/12\/tuesday-night-eating-alone\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday night – eating alone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Siting alone at an empty italian place in midtown manhattan.. And kinda happy to be doing just that. Its a moment of peace an quiet ive been craving all day .normally most of the time, i dont eat in restaurants when im traveling alone.. It just seems so sad to do that.. But feels right tonight,<\/p>\n

It reminds me of one of my favorite billy collins poems<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

471. Old Man Eating Alone in a Chinese Restaurant – Billy Collins<\/span><\/font><\/h3>\n
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I am glad I resisted the temptation, <\/p>\n

if it was a temptation when I was young to write a poem about an old man<\/p>\n

eating alone at a corner table in a Chinese restaurant.<\/p>\n

I would have gotten it all wrong<\/p>\n

thinking: the poor bastard, not a friend in the world<\/p>\n

and with only a book for a companion.<\/p>\n

He'll probably pay the bill out of a change purse.<\/p>\n

So glad I waited all these decades<\/p>\n

to record how hot and sour the hot and sour<\/p>\n

soup is here at Chang's this afternoon<\/p>\n

and how cold the Chinese beer in a frosted glass.<\/p>\n

And my book \u2013\u2013 Jos\u00e9 Saramago's Blindness<\/p>\n

as it turns out \u2013\u2013 is so absorbing that I look up<\/p>\n

from its escalating horrors only<\/p>\n

when I am stunned by one of his gleaming sentences.<\/p>\n

And I should mention the light<\/p>\n

that falls through the big windows this time of the day<\/p>\n

italicizing everything it touches \u2013\u2013<\/p>\n

the plates and teapots, the immaculate tablecloths,<\/p>\n

as well as the soft brown hair of the waitress<\/p>\n

in the white blouse and short black skirt,<\/p>\n

the one who is smiling now as she bears a cup of rice<\/p>\n

and shredded beef with garlic to my favorite table in the corner.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ahhh.. Heres my pizza !<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

Nite all, nite sam<\/p>\n

-me<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n