Alaska Shorts: Poems by Scott Banks

Sunday Morning Coffee Shop 9:52 am

Yuppie moms and dads

Trailed by their yuppies in training

Order lattes and hot chocolate before sitting

In hard-backed chairs at scarred tables,

Making their kids read labels on the

Sugar packets, talking loud,

Drawing attention to their cute and clever kids,

Doing whatever it takes to convince themselves

Their kids are above average.

Savior

As simple as a mother walking from the parking lot

Holding her four-year-old daughter’s hand.

She’s chatting as if it’s the most important conversation

She will have that day, maybe in her entire life.

To find and see love in unexpected places,

At unexpected moments,

Shuttering the shadows of today’s news:

Fights, black eyes, and fractured arms.

I want it to save the world.

Work

There was a time when we

Had to wear down our blue jeans

without benefit of belt sanders

And stone washing machines,

Not afraid to put in the work

It took to fade the denim:

Witness to the trial of our lives.

Discovery

I found a nap hitchhiking on the road

So I stopped and picked it up.

Three hours later I rolled over

Look at my watch and was in no way dissatisfied.

Scott Banks is an Anchorage writer and a
graduate of the UAA MFA program.

Looking for a publishing venue? Submit your original prose or poetry (800 words or less) to Alaska Shorts.