Coco

I only ever came here for the fortune cookies 

I don't know if you can tell 

when I stare at the menu 

under shiny plastic with a red rim 

when I glance 

It never happened

that everything was beautiful and nothing hurt

but if it did it would have been

lying in the grass

the kind that surrounds you like the ocean

and flows like a river

The beginners of the beat,

Just learning the ropes,

Figuring out their instruments -

They come in, 

Wide-eyed,

And regard the older kids

With awe.

I love to be looked at this way

We have something to learn from

(the toddler who smiled

while he peeled his banana

and ate it in five bites

and gave us all high fives)

(the lady with orange glasses gray hair