WHAT THE HELL

WHAT THE HELL
on a Tuesday afternoon
I was sitting at an outdoor table
drinking a pot of tea
and waiting for it to go down
then it did
a man about thirty came around the corner
his face red with rage
his eyes stern and concentrated
he looked questioningly at me
and then approached a couple of guys
who were chatting away the afternoon
he muttered something to them
and both shook their heads
and then the man turned and looked at me
I ducked in my chin and shook my head
and the man stormed over to the trash can
tore off the cover
and began rooting around
through the discarded coffee cups
and napkins and other odd junk
he was looking for something
and he wasn’t finding it
after a minute
with his hands still buried in the trash can
he looked back up at me and said,
“fuckin’ A!” and then stood up
and stormed off
back around the corner
back out of our little coffee shop world
leaving us all wondering,
“what the hell?”