Black snow falls on the broken asphalt parking lots of the old massive grain factory alongside the Buffalo River.
It is one of the last grain factories still in commission in this city.
It’s a little after 6 AM. I can hear the bells and buzzers of the Michigan Avenue lift bridge.
The quotidian commute of another river boat must complete its passage to or from Lake Erie.
I envision cars and trucks piling up in long lines on both sides of the bridge.
Indeed I can hear it happening.
I am parked in my truck with the heat on blasting and my truck seat is all the way back–––
I am staring at the ceiling with my hands in a hand stack and an unlit Newport is poking out of my mouth.
Housey love songs blast on my premium Bose stereo.
Some woman with a beddable voice is comparing new love to a tidal wave.
A half smoked blunt stinks up the cabin air, standing tilted against the rim of a cup holder.
A flashlight with a secret compartment on the bottom of its handle sits on the seat next to me.
In the corners of both my eyes light seeps into my senses–––
A resplendent ruby corona surrounding a yellow diamond sun evinces the gray sky–––
the black of nightfall behind me creeps farther away. It is time.
Now walking dressed in large fitting untied Timbs and gym shorts to the doors of the old grain factory with 100 dollars wrapped around a coffee cup held inside my hand.
The scent of cheerios from the General Mills factory next door sacks my nostrils and it takes me back to memories of wanting to relate to people–––of wanting to identify with something larger than myself. To this day the phenomenon makes me feel unalone.
The man I am looking for appears. A jumpsuit donning man with an ill-fitting plastic hard hat stumbles out of the front doors of the factory. His eyes beeding left to right.
He is covered in flour from head to toe. He summons me to him with a perky hand.
I oblige him and hand him the coffee. He stuffs a plastic bag into my pocket.
“Thanks for the coffee, brother.” He says like he’s Hulk Hogan.

poetry #art #lifestyle #buffalo