Lobster fried noodles
and
green
tea
It's a
Chinese
upstairs
downstairs
ballet
see
Mostly
it's the single guys
who sit
downstairs
the furniture is
stark
tidy
and clean
Waiters
cheeks
quiver
weighted effort
crackling crockery
Young
Chinese
men pull
duck fat
and gristle
from their
teeth
Metal
cleavers
thwonk
on wood
through cured
duck bones
to
the swing
of a
closing
door
Over on
the table
opposite
a
guy
looks like
one of the kids
from Cinema Paradiso
all grown up,
just found
a
real
fat
piece of
gristle
in his
mouth
He
wants to
spit it out
but for the
irony
of his own
self inhibitions
Oh
he's chewing
to get it down now
No
it's just too
tough
I can see
his eyes
dancing through
the chopsticks,
waiting
for the moment
when
no one's
looking
so he can
spit
it
out
Some
homebread
wholesome looking
sorority
girl
is
watching me write
soaking
things up
with a
little
more
soy
sauce
Easy now
the
hairy
fat
camp
fella's
choking
on his chicken
No signs
of finger lickin
just thoughtful
faces
a
real
Soho
night.
