While Reading Billy Collins at Bandera’s Best Restaurant, Words Come to Me
And having no other paper at hand,
I scrawl on a dollar bill, “I want to speak
the language of smoke.” My invisible friend
interrupts. That is a white man’s dilemma.
At least you have a dollar and a pen.
“But I’m only half-white,” I reply, “with half
the privilege.” Then you must bear double
the burden,he says. This version of math
twists my intestines into a Gordian knot,
as does the concept of half equals twice,
or in terms I might better comprehend,
one beer equals four when divided by color
or accent and multiplied by projection.
The unsmiling waitress delivers my rib-eye
as I’m dressing the salad, and the check appears
just after the first bites of medium-rare beef
hit my palate, certainly before I can answer the
never-voiced question “would you like dessert?”
Cheese cake, I would have said. Or cobbler. And I
seldom turn down a second beer. This too, I’m told,
is another example of my unearned entitlement. I
contemplate this statement, scribble a few other
phrases on bills, drop them on the table, and walk out,
wondering which direction to take, which to avoid.
* * *
“While Reading Billy Collins at Bandera’s Best Restaurant, Words Come to Me” was a finalist last fall for the Slippery Elm Prize in Poetry. It was published in Slippery Elm (print only) in December 2017. You may be amused to hear that shortly after the winner was announced, I had lunch in Bandera with one of the other finalists in this competition, but not at the restaurant featured in the poem. The photo is of a local bar, not the eatery, but it offers some of the flavor of the town.
I love this one very much. Very well written. 🙂
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Thank you very much!
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Someone, somewhere, is holding money that appreciated the moment pen touched paper.
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Little scraps of poetry insinuating themselves into the economy. 🙂
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It’s definitely a powerful piece and worthy of recognition. Well done!
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Thanks very much, Sarah!
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Love this one! Bandera is not where one goes for sophisticated dining … but that waitress could’ve at least smiled!!
I’m grinning thinking of various comments you might’ve scribbled on bills left for said waitress … though I suspect your are much too much of a gentleman for the words skipping through my mind …
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The restaurants that have tried to cater to sophisticated diners haven’t fared well there. I just left a few tidbits of poetry. I wonder how many people have read the words on these dollars?
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wonderful piece and powerful in many ways
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Thanks very much, Beth.
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Excellent.
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Thank you, Leslie. I do like Bandera!
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I believe I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ve ridden there on a motorcycle excursion. Our group stayed in Kerrville and explored the countryside for a week. We were there right after the annual gathering of Harleys and impressed everyone with our quiet sport bikes.
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I remember that. Yeah, the Harleys are a bit loud!
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I pictured a funky mom and pop cafe where I once ate breakfast in Cody, Wyoming.
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Ah, that could describe this place, except it’s attached to a motel.
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The world is full of both unearned entitlement and directions without maps. (K)
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I sometimes find those directions without maps to be the most interesting. But then I’m easily amused.
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Definitely more interesting.
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Getting lost with the right person is often wonderful. 🙂
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or in the right place
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That too!
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