Woman in Doorway

The photo features a dark-haired woman
gazing with imperious disinterest
from an open doorway out across
the narrow walkway. We know
she is no strumpet touting her wares –
there’s nothing lurid nor enticing
in her make-up, garb nor pose.
What the photo does not see
is what she does and is trying to ignore.

We know the woman works in
the bar directly across from where we
sit with our glasses of Sagres beer.
Her bar, whose door jamb she leans
against, where she is prepared to render
Orgasms, Sex on the Beach,
or other 2 for 1 cocktails, right now
is hushed as a midnight morgue.

Meanwhile across the way
at Tony’s Pizzeria people crowd
every table with more sitting inside.
Just minutes before we snapped
this photo, Tony’s waitress stood
outside with a large pizza cut
into bite-sized pieces, luring takers.
Now Tony’s tables are jammed,
his servers are happy, and so is
Tony, most of all. Meanwhile,
the shutter blink nabs
a moment of artful pretense.

~ Glen Sorestad

Glen Sorestad is a well known poet from Saskatoon who has published close to twenty volumes of poetry, the latest being Blood & Bone, Ice & Stone(2005), Halo of Morning(2006) and Language of Horse(2007), an online chapbook on www.coraclepress.com. Sorestad was the first Poet Laureate of Saskatchewan(2000-2004).

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