RESTING BITCH FACE IS REAL, SCIENCE SAYS

ogling the walk-in
at my fave restaurant - i
had been chatting with the owner
while he rearranged antique
decor - she looked troubled
and as soon as she
entered she about-faced
back into the parking lot
super intense on her mobile
i pretended to smoke
hoping for a further ogle
but saw it was not the time
for in-depth ogling
so i headed in the opposite direction

there i espied an
out of service
payphone, weathered and sad
someone had bent thick
now-rusty wire to prop up
the handset but it hadn't held
the handset dangled
dangerously
i've been on a lucky streak
since the two october
deaths made me insane
a quick reajustment
had the handset resting correctly
in the cradle--operation complete
a bit of found sculpture

inside i beamed

re-entering the joint
i encountered the oglee now
standing in the vestibule
holding back tears
tense, teary, not your
average resting bitch face
that science now says is real

averting my glance
i skulked past
back into bottaio's
on milwaukee avenue
libertyville, illinois
back into the
sacred oblivion of
mourning

copyright © 2017 by patrick o'hayer