Maybe if he hadnt been familiar
with Hoppers Nighthawks
its
hard lines
deliberate
light
he
might have been more forgiving of his neighbors outdoor lighting above their
garage door
it penetrated the blinds into his house late evenings
and belligerently through
early morning hours until dawn subtly effaced its illumination
despite him telling them so
or perhaps they spiting him
because he had said so
a huge spot of ulcerating light
a white etched face and
startling edge of the fasciaboard above it
slicing the black night
and
to its left sidebyside windows oozing a soft
blue light which was a loft above the
garage
and it was in this loft
as it was
peering
through
the plateglass window at the Nighthawks
the white-capped and uniformed
sodajerk bent at his waist jocular
the redhead seated in a nondescript red dress admiring
folded paper money she held
warmly in her hand
and
beside her
arguably
a
dapper john sporting a satin-beribboned fedora smoking a cigarette nonplus
across from them was a gent
sitting on a fixed wooden seat stool having coffee
his back to
the glass
he seemed cool to the remnants
of the transaction before him
biding
his time
sipping
some water
her
evenings second date
no one is jealous of a pro
peoples eyebrows rose or
knitted
Ahem
oftenly greeted his graphic perceptions of
Hoppers painting
he readily admitted he had no attributable knowledge
but
rather he was informed by the paintings characters
their relaxed
manners and insouciance
and vitally
by
the two tall stainless steel coffee cisterns that dominated the canvass
right
one
spent the other expectant
it was through their sidebyside
windows
overlooking
a steaming hot tub hidden behind the broad planks of a sevenfoot fence
they
erected divvying their properties
evidently seeking a kind of anonymity at groundlevel
not hiding their nakedness or gamesplaying
not that his sensibilities were offended
they could frolic and fuck in
broad daylight for all he cared
his preference was the nights
his
nightvision
and
the array of stars overhead that were bleached out his eyes by their intrusive
lamp
no one is jealous of a pro
when the brilliant relief didnt
occur by their accord the globe fixture and bulb were smashed
-- Curious
he said
he
commiserated telling them they were fortunate it wasnt a plateglass window
broken
which
were immensely expensive to replace
had they ever been to Chicagos Art Institute and seen Hoppers
Nighthawks
the plateglass windows in the
diner would cost a mint to replace
and have to replace again and
again
1500, Sunday,
28 9. 14
