NaPoWriMo 2017 - Day 19

How Dare the Pigeon #

Flapping Flapping Pigeon wings
Tapping typing computer fingers
drip dripping brewing coffee
Whirring Stirring coffee confection
Long gong like prolongations of silence
Through the coffee bar

We have a visitor
everyone say hello
urban camo gray
green scale looking plumage
inherited from his dinosaur ancestors
red eye mounds
catlike grace and dignity

SPLAT
against the window
the pigeon looks confused
slightly offended
I don’t know why he is
slightly offended
here he is
he hasn’t purchased a coffee
yet there he is
strutting on a table
strut strut strut

taking up an entire table, just like that snap
I move my papers across my computer coffee mouse jacket napkins wallet pencils legal pads headphones receipt cords powerstrip

strut head bob weave look
dodging invisible laser beams
avoiding a floor of lava
the pigeon considers a moment
the force-field
preventing his freedom

people are staring
a little rude but you know
people reattach their headphones to their ears
some going back to their work
others pretending purposely the pigeon does exist
but he does strut strut SPLAT

the force field again
the damnable force field
people open the window
but they can’t open it all the way
the pipes in the ceiling make for a good roost
but the pigeon loves his table
still hasn’t bought a coffee
there are people who want to drink coffee
I use my laptop to message a friend
with the help of the Facebook bots
(what great friends those bots are)
about this situation
my friend agrees agree

two women at my table
nervous looking faces
pigeons are better than urban lions
maybe this pigeon is a particularly
shifting looking pigeon
he still can’t figure out the force field
he studies it like a chess grand master
probing for mental weakness

When I leave to go home
the pigeon has chosen a spot to stay
up in the ceiling
looking over everyone
he still has not
ordered coffee