I’d decided to stop being a hermit

I pulled my heavy coat from the
Battered wardrobe trunk

Browley’s window on 13th
Displayed typewriter keys with a croquet set

Next to a payphone covered in graffiti
Bedouin traders conducted business

A sailor passed with a pretty girl on his arm
His chest pushed out an extra three inches

Under a bus stop light
A man with a caterpillar mustache
Read a dime store novel

In the Denny’s
Hot cup of coffee between my hands

I watched a burly wino
Kicking a rusted can down Madison Avenue

He turned to look at me
Raised his bag clad bottle
And shouted through the glass

Don’t go looking for a new god
Find connection and commonality