Morning offering of beer bottles gather on the last
step laid over, laid up, slept past last call
My coffee in too small a cup sits
with me at a table that limps
Construction worker walks from sandwich shop to truck,
early enough for the dirty professions, still too
early for the clean, those bleached-sterile
by fluorescent preserved in recycled air
Trash in the bushes, empty cup rolls
along in this morning wind
will it be enough to push over clouds
that fill this window
There’s my man! A Hamster: suit and soft shoe, on his bike,
backpack full of papers, phone, protein bar, water.
He navigates through intersection of Railroad /
Chestnut, the traffic light a suggestion
*A “Hamster” is a person who lives in Bellingham, Washington.
shannon p. laws 