Poems Niederngasse
Jayne Pupek
The Day I Found You
in Another Woman's Bed


I swallowed two Tylenol,
not the whole bottle, only two,
just as the directions advise,
then walked into the corner cafe,
sat at one of those small round tables
suited for couples in love
and the solitary man or woman
who opens the same tattered book,
a prop to keep onlookers
from suspecting their loneliness.
I ordered espresso and flan,
which came in matching blue bowls
but tasted like nothing.
I tipped the waitress and slipped
out the back door, into the rain,
I hailed a taxi cab to a row house
in the seedy part of town.

round III, poem 19, June 19

Jayne Pupek holds an MA in Psychology and lives near Richmond, VA. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in several online and print publications. Primitive, her chapbook of poetry, is available from Pudding House Press. Her first novel is scheduled for release Spring, 2006 by Algonquin at Chapel Hill.  email: Jayne Pupek