A flock of hipsters walks in—but what to say after that? Maybe the alternatives (gaggle, herd, murder) but to be honest, I’m stuck on the way this guy’s collar and bow tie blossom from the palm-wide neck hole of his sweater despite July heat wrinkling the exhaust of passing cars. This girl’s dark glasses and the way she adjusts them—looking down, so that they slide off her nose as much as she raises them—just before she fishes in her knitted purse for money. And her friend—how smoothly he whips out his cash (no wallet) like a gunslinger, and when they thank him, shrugs like even gratitude is derivative. Which I guess it is. But I think he means it, accident or no, when he thanks the barista who slides drinks the color of a twilit savanna across a smooth, checkered counter, steam ghosting their styled bangs and sly, noncommittal smiles.
Michael Meyerhofer is a consummate Midwesterner with addictions to caffeine and the History Channel. His third book, Damnatio Memoriae (“damned memory”), won the Brick Road Poetry Book Contest. His previous books are Blue Collar Eulogies (Steel Toe Books) and Leaving Iowa (winner of the Liam Rector First Book Award), plus five prize-winning chapbooks. He is also the author of a dark fantasy trilogy, beginning with the recently released novel, Wytchfire. In his free time, he collects medieval weapons and serves as the Poetry Editor for Atticus Review. For more information, plus at least one embarrassing childhood photo, please visit troublewithhammers.com.
Photo “Hipsters” by Mac McCreery via Flickr
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