15 may 2012

inside, the music's on that decibel level where you have to talk over it, and they are, and the result is a madding mélange of frantic technojazz peppered with snippets of jittery, caffeine-fueled conversation. "been too long!" and "how you been?" and the nervous laughter of folks who should know each other, or used to know each other, but simply ran out of lifespace for anything more than a coffee-shop connection.

so i came outside to sit with the smokers and listen to the light rush of the late traffic flowing home down the suburban road that winds around this starbucks. my starbucks. and you know what? i like it here. i like this generic starbucks in this archetypal suburb. i like it here, on this porch in this evening with these smokers, the smell of her herbal essence mixing with his marlboros into scent reminiscent of a state fair midway, soft and hard at the same time, kind and cruel.

that's suburbia... kind and cruel. the monotony will wear you down and the petty politics will wind you up, but in the end it's just life here like it's just life anywhere. you can let it get to you, and fight it, and you'll end up drunk every night scheming of some ephemeral betterness. or, you can let it really get to you, let it reach you, and then maybe you'll come on out here with me and the smokers, and we'll make some lifespace for the simple joy of watching the cars going by.