the coffee is awful though and how can we rationalize THAT

There are the people on a Sunday midmorning
not at church
and I feel a sense of belonging here
I put on my glasses
take out a cigarette
and a book
the sense of belonging disappears
but I welcome it; will interpret stares
as grief of those who have not
given their life or spare change to nihilists
in an offering plate
passed round on friday night
with a lopsided grin

Who is even awake on a Sunday midmorning
not our part time rockstars, part time preschool teachers
preschoolers themselves except for cuervo
stares multiplied with oxford collars
of those who pried open the mouth
of a gift horse, and affixed braces
because freedom was not acceptable
if it had the crooked teeth
of a homeless man on west burnside
Who has ripped the sleeves off his
oxford shirt and spilled vodka sunkist
down the front as artistic license
which is my justification to these people
because I will always need to rationalize
my freedom to horses or children
with braces

A cigarette is 2.8 times better on a Sunday midmorning
it is life-affirming
god grant me the will to maintain homeostasis