VICISSITUDES AT CAFÉ PAMENAR IN 2019

FROM APRIL/MAY 2021 ISSUE OF WEST END PHOENIX

Cappuccino at Café Pamenar

VICISSITUDES AT CAFÉ PAMENAR IN 2019

307 AUGUSTA AVE.

Natural magnet, every facet of me
glides indoors, hands waiting for a cold, wet
glass. At any evening, I watch the mouths
of patrons, space conscious
between brick and market woodland.
Fingers through mine, a lover creates a
phylogeny of artists, a history
made exposed and intimate
through purpled conflict;
in a corner, two friends dovetail,
eyes moon-wide over suspect revelation.

I come here with my people,
when we yearned for unintentional
backstage, our bodies darkened and freed
under noise, but I don’t long for proximity.
I long for a cinematic affair,
four pairs of legs under a table,
language smoking, twilight wrapped
round our necks.

Archive everything!
When I alighted for the last time,
I was too late. I drank and drank
and watched the walls ghosten,
story folding at the waist,
into night, into myth.

PHOTOS BY GILLIAN MAPP

Café Pamenar at 307 Augusta Ave.
A barista pouring coffee at Café Pamenar