what time do you get off?

at 2 a.m.

it was coffee

and cigarettes at 

the roadside diner.

how we sat

there, taking off

our winter coats.

our hats,

rubbing the winter

out of our hands.

we were

exhausted from a night

of carousing.

we kidded the waitress,

all of nineteen,

and asked

what's good here.

and she'd reply

nothing.

not even me,

to which we'd say, no doubt,

then order

steak and eggs

and hashbrowns,

toast, and jam. 

keep the coffee coming

we'd tell her,

then ask

what time she got off.