Unicorn Chinese Restaurant,
Men Smoking
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Out back in the alley two Chinese men in aprons and uniform hats
—white folded like newspaper boats—
light up by the trash bins off Lincoln, their cigarettes flash white
in an otherwise dim scape
greasy smells won ton something or other and all the other social ills
maybe it’s good luck to go on hoping
how the dream of a better life stays buoyant like empty boats
docked at the Marina
stumped as a child—how could anything so heavy float?
going through the day to day like that now
carried in spite of ourselves because we are human
and do not understand the meaning of grace
the passing glance of a lifetime streaked light in the ether
From Buddha Box by Gretchen Mattox