Dinner Out<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We went to either the Canton Grill
\nor the Chinese Village, both of them
\non 82nd among the car lots
\nand discount stores and small nests
\nof people waiting hopelessly
\nfor the bus. I preferred the Canton
\nfor its black and bright red sign
\nwith the dragon leaping out of it
\nsneezing little pillows of smoke.
\nAnd inside, the beautiful green
\nhalf-shell booths, glittery brass encrusted
\nlamps swinging above them.<\/p>\n
What would I have?
\nSweet and sour?
\nChow mein with little wagon wheel shaped
\nslices of okra and those crinkly noodles
\nmy father called deep fried worms?
\nFried rice?<\/p>\n
Among such succulence, what did it matter?
\nWe could eat \u2018til we were glad and full, the whole
\nfamily sighing with the pleasure of it.
\nAnd then the tea!
\nAll of this for about six bucks, total,
\nmy father, for that once-in-a-while, feeling
\nflush in the glow of our happy faces
\nand asking me, \u201cHow you doing, son?\u201d<\/p>\n
Fine, Dad. Great, really, in the light
\nof that place, almost tasting
\nthe salt and bean paste and molasses, nearly
\nhearing the sound of the car door
\nopening before we climbed in together
\nand drove and drove
\nthough we hadn\u2019t far to go.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Christopher Howell<\/a> has published ten collections of poems, most recently Gaze<\/a> (Milkweed Editions, 2012), and Dreamless and Possible: poems New & Selected <\/a>(University of Washington Press, 2010). He has received three Pushcart Prizes, two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and a fellowship from the Washington Artist Trust. He has also been honored with the Stanley W. Lindberg Award for Editorial Excellence, and has twice won the Washington State Book Award. Since 1996 he has taught at Eastern Washington University\u2019s Inland NW Center for Writers. He lives in Spokane.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dinner Out We went to either the Canton Grill or the Chinese Village, both of them on 82nd among the car lots and discount stores and small nests of people waiting hopelessly for the bus. I preferred the Canton … Continue reading