Scenes from a Pizza Joint

My husband and I had a pizza restaurant fifteen years ago. A wonderful place where scenes unfolded daily.  The prompt at Read Write Poem was perfect for me to give a second look at some work that has been percolating in a notebook all these years.

two lovers
eat pizza
weekly
always order
pinot noir
by the bottle
mozzarella strings loop
around forks
feed each other

come in on saturdays
leave on wednesdays
table one
their nest

it’s thursday
lover one
arrives
sits at table two
orders a beer
one personal pizza
pays the bill
yells  out
“gotta start a new life”
door slams

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

dog and I walk
through
stale cigarettes haze
loud music of
the  neighborhood tavern

woman storms out
tall
black dress
her second skin
shadows
fella with
cowboy boots and stetson

her stilettos strut
hand smacks
the van as a drum
bellows
I
loved
you
you
killed
my
soul

dog and I
move on
dog
sniffs the ground

Please visit Read Write Poem to see what others did to create a poetic scene.

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12 Responses to Scenes from a Pizza Joint

  1. Linda says:

    The parts of the poems were delicious. I loved the
    images and the short order of everyone’s lives. It reminded me of my days in the pizza store. Thanks for sharing.

  2. davidmoolten says:

    I love the simple terse construction in these; the narrow form; the short lines; the abbreviated diction. It really heightens the irony given the calamity and squalor unfolding, and also fits the third person “indifferent” though not really point of view of the narrator.

  3. Dave Bonta says:

    I love the understatement in these.

  4. Both of these pieces are very good and very interesting..such “slice of life” moments…and I can’t help feeling sorry for the guy with the small pizza and beer…Good Job!

  5. SusaBoa says:

    Poetry appeals to all the senses…mmmm…the aroma of pizza!

  6. barbara_y says:

    I really like the second. dog’s a nice touch for distance

  7. Paul Oakley says:

    I like the way this two-parted poem outlines the sharp bifurcation of life lived and life observed. We see little eruptions of other people’s dramas. And while we occasionally feel pity or compassion, mostly we’re just watchers. Glad it isn’t us.

    dog and I
    move on
    dog
    sniffs the ground

    Nice capture.

  8. Derrick says:

    “come in on saturdays
    leave on wednesdays”

    That must have been one big pizza! :o)

  9. rallentanda says:

    I feel sorry for the dog!

  10. I really liked the way the lives unfolded in the midst of Pizzas.

    scrawled sheet of paper

  11. annie says:

    What stories. What memories. Brava! More please.

  12. What powerhouse images were birthed in that pizza place. I find such inspiration in knowing these pieces percolated for so long. The power of images!

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