Michael Rothenberg
	Bio   SITTING IN TAVERNE MAÎTRE KANTER Sitting in Taverne Maître Kanter drinking Perrier Looking for where I'm on the map. Rain drops from red awning On umbrella. I'm treated well here. Waitress and Manager my age or about are polite and friendly I was the college student they ignored. Long hair, counting my change Dodging the scam. Now pretty women are younger than me or married I've lived long enough already. I want nothing more than to settle down Momo may have to throw me out but I'll try to leave before I outlive my welcome . . . I'm suspicious of anything easy to say Toenails of the small dog tapping on the tile floor above my bed Car horns blowing a block away I have dinner at a friend's house, one hour to get there, one hour to burn We went to elementary school together She moved here 25 years ago with her French husband She'll ask me about my life, I'll recall "Death In Venice" And tell her I'm doing great, have found my place in money and art As for love, well, I'm about to be recently divorced I'll lie about being happy, be entertaining, allow her French Husband to be superior in his own home and She'll be philosophical. She'll have forgotten who she was Then I'll take a taxi to Noisy-Champs. The drugs of my youth will Exist outside my better judgement. My pondering on suicide will be Familiar and trivial. I'll read a Russian fairy tale and note How far my lot has fallen from the plot It was romantic while it lasted. And romantic because it came to an end Motor scooters shoot raspberries down rue JJ Rousseau May 27, 1998