Dame Leo's Blues Kafe
Muncie 11/18/98

The swordfish sails over the espresso
machine, its fedora tipped low
across its bill and we are laughing
to the rhythm of the country
blues on CD and the chatter
of the woman with the quiet
man at the table next to us.
When she is talking, she twirls
her long hair. In Le Cours d'Eau
Blanc we have mostly bottom
feeders, tho we also have bass
(mouths large and small), chubs,
crappie, sunfish, and such.
The woman with long twirls
is talking of the smoked salmon
she ate once in Seattle. "Lord,"
sings the speaker, "you must have
got it down in Loosianna where
the crawfish crawl all night."
In front of the still instruments
on the bandstand stand three
silent mics, like disappointed
cajun kings. The coffee here
tastes like a southern Paris, with
black olives in the Ruben, pickle
on the side, and we can only pray
the dame will stay in business.
As we get up to pay, the man
is talking some at last, the twirler
twirling less and leaning forward.
The waitress at the register declares
with much too much, that "God
should have created only
women and homosexuals," but
she doesn't say whose god. We stop
at the table where Siva and
Parvati are laughing about
whether "having sex" is only a
semantic problem, and whether
dancing is sex, sex dancing.
We ask if that is what has made
their marriage stay so good so long.
Siva contemplates, says, "That, and
love, imagination." Parvati: "Those,
and common interests, a certain
degree of maturity, flow, family
and friends." "Pain, patience,
practicality." "Fun, romance, humor,
plenty of hugs." "You have to want it
hard and work it hard." Thus Nina:
"Hard is what's to be expected." "And
tip well," adds the waitress, as we drop
another greenback in the fish bowl
beside the CD player.

Tom Koontz
Painting by Nina B. Marshall