Orlin
I was recently in Orlin.
The food is still good.
Black tables now,
Modern red and black chairs.
Surprised that they had replaced,
Their wooden furniture.
Its many meals, laughter,
Conversations, still palpable in those
Chairs, and tables aging patina
Rocked, sat upon, pulled out, put back.
Elbows on old tables, stories told,
Despair withheld, dreams born,
A babies rattle dropped again, again.
Music too loud, a change has come,
As inevitable as a sunrising.
All not lost, just that familiar
Feeling of a home within a restaurant,
Just there, a degree remaining,
But shaken I feel.
Nevertheless,
the food is still good.
•
peter radley
Cafe Orlin is at 41 St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue