The Night Cafe
by
Leeann Monat
copyright 12-09-2005
Age Rating: 10 to 127
You were cleverly washed out
by the orbs of light in The Night Café.
Standing in solitude among the multitudes
of hunched cappuccino sippers,
hands nuzzled in your daisy yellow shirt.
I sat coyly in the corner
sipping my latte in The Night Café.
My eyes anxiously dancing with the glow
of your luminous figure,
careful not to waltz too closely.
You picked up a splintered cue
at the pool table in The Night Café.
Eyeing the defenseless ivory globes
awaiting their impending fate,
almost as if to tease them upon judgement.
My heart races with anticipation
as I observe you in The Night Café.
Performing somersaults in mid-air
as an act to attract your gaze,
executing more complex flips by the second.
Lady blonde haired and beautiful
takes confident strides while entering The Night Café.
Daintily calling your name as you spin round
to greet her with a passionate peck on the cheek,
her pale face flushing with red.
All hopes are dashed in The Night Café.
I sit and gulp my latte letting the caffeine rush to my brain,
now realizing the only true thing I can rely on
is mocha-flavored.
I wrote this poem based on Vincent Van Gogh's "The Night Cafe". He is one of my favorite artists and I wanted to write how I perceived his painting.
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This is great! I have seen van Gogh's 'The Night Cafe' and will now see it with fresh eyes.
I think the use of 'The Night Cafe' phrase serves as an interesting way to link all the scenes in a way which is different from the narrative link. In a sense it pulls us out of the story so that we can see and judge each scene neutrally as opposed to being subsumed within the narrator's point of view, understanding and responses. The poor analogy of motion picture film suggested itself to me: the poem is the movie and the stanzas are the frames.
Can it be improved? Tinkering might destroy what you have. The only thing that struck me was that the initial part of the last stanza might somehow be longer to give it greater parallelism to the others but what is there seems so right just the way it is.
I hope you have the opportunities to write more poetry and also to submit it here because I enjoy it so much.
What a daydreamer you are, Leeann! And how silly are these men, trying to figure out a simple scene from a young girls perspective. Only Brian Dickenson, who I suspect is just as much of a romantic as either of us, was able to feel the mood.
I have to disagree with Roger.. after the first couple of stanzas I was counting on you repeating 'The Night Cafe'.
I especially enjoyed your heart doing flips and such.. and then sadly, the Lady blonde! Heartbreak! or more like the hissing of a slow leak in a balloon.. a sigh..
I am inspired!
Debbie
very well crafted in vivid colors like a great painter. Great impact and depth.
The voice of the desperate comes through well.
One of my favorite reads.
You are definitely describing the human experience, and very well, may I add. You describe subtleties of the psyche, playing the game, wanting attention, the unspoken words that travel through the air, as magnetism and charisma personified. You have an ability to draw a complex picture with few colors. I just find that the repetition of, "The Night Cafe" is overdone. I would just mention it in the beginning and in the end. I think you did a great job here!
I really like this. How many nights I felt just like that, though I was hanging out in the disco clubs in Brooklyn, acting like a mafia wanna-be, drinking far potent things. You capture the disappointment well-- of leaving at the end of the night, feeling quite dejected and lonely. I particularly love the next to last stanza, with the smart-aleck reference to the blond girl.
Welcome !
