The Waitress

The women are balancing.

A dancer in her pink chiffon

on one leg, performing.

The waitress her bar tray,

several mugs, serving.

The men, smoking, drinking,

ignore the women dancing,

balancing, serving. The

waitress is looking, staring,

scrutinizing, not the men

she is serving nor the dancer

performing. Her gaze is fixed,

rivotted firmly nailing the

rival, the ex-lover, the brutal

husband, the raucous patron

in place. She controls with

her efficient dance of auto-

matic movements, gestures,

looks, dialogue. The pub is

revolving around the wait-

ress. Invisible like gravity,

she holds everything in place.




© Gayle M. Petty
Originally published in
South Dakota Review


The Waitress
by Edouard Manet



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