justwrite 24 may

while I was eating my lunch from a plastic takeaway bag cash and carry at the teatralna square vopak I sat on a wooden bench in the center and watched two dogs worrying three chicken feet watched by an old woman who waited with a deep plastic plate and a bottle of water the woman sitting next to me got up and walked over to talk to her and I don’t know what she said possibly what are you doing and are these your dogs and do you do this to every dog you find and how can you possibly spend your day like this but I was thinking about what happened to the other foot and wondering if the woman’s bag was filled with chicken feet arrested suddenly in their development and useful for nothing but gnawing of dogs a few yards away pigeons walked by with feigned disinterest fearing to glance down at their own spare digits wondering who would gnaw their feet and knowing there would be little to be had but this never stops spare dogs ready for anything they are waiting for mismatched women to bring them something they can use something true enough to examine in the shade of the sometimes Christmas trees naked for the summer season throwing off convention and boldly sunning themselves the trio of piney sirens calling everyone into the great square swarming with color and pressed with summer the ice cream vendors and the sunglasses salesgirls cool too cool for the sunshine they hide in the shade of their own displays black eyes defending them coolly everything glassy and smooth nothing we’re used to but our own reflections looking back looking pale and unready for the change in season we are reasoning with professionalism and wearing black pants the uniform of a sparse cabinet in rotation but sandals nonetheless and the season’s first blister still considering itself but still early I watched and waited and still the chickenfoot giver continued to address her questioner the woman who had sat beside me tossing crumbs of her own lunch to hopeful and slowly watchful pigeons and I have finished my own lunch no crumbs to toss no feet to pass out and an old man looks right at me and sits beside me in the empty bench space after a minute I check the time and stand up to throw my trash away as I exit the scene he leans and lurches into my vacated spot the better side of the bench the better from which to see my dear