Breath & Shadow
Summer 2016 - Vol. 13, Issue 3
"Concierge"
written by
Freedom Chevalier
calloused, cracked knuckles defend
against dawn's first flush
chipped nails trim grime-washed
palms, eager to work
tuck shirttail into too-big trousers, straighten frayed cuffs without sleeve-buttons;
hold open doors.
suits, ties, phones, files
corporate-meeting-vivisetion-congregation
per diem procession
Could you believe it!
In-house coffee tastes like crap! I won't drink it!
I DON'T have any spare change. He should get a job!
outcast cups catch castaway coins tossed, en route.
8 hours procurement: $3.50
morning special:
small coffee and any regular donut $2.00
...a limited supply
evening exigency:
bed at hostel for one night $4.00
...a limited supply
another biting night on numbing city
cement, huddled between
threadbare sack and subterranean chasm
spewing foul vapors
warming;
carting workmen home to post-bachelor flats
baroque accoutrements: toilets, hot water
his life furnishes no surplus
Freedom Chevalier is a rehabilitated thespian and the author of countless feature articles, several dramatic plays, short stories, songs, poems and even a gritty thriller set in the world of Canadian stand-up comedy of the 1990s. She currently resides outside of Boston and is desperately trying to get back to the bay...and she really has heard every possible joke about her name.