At the Rendez-Vous, in Hull

Jean Van Loon

The same sandwich plate – white bread
Kraft cheese slice, wedge of dill –
travels from table to table in the dark
as newcomers order their quart.

Around the crowded cave it tours
untasted, top slice curling crisp
beside a tall brown bottle.
No Booze Without Food.

Sunday, my good-looking date
threads among tables ahead of me.
Mostly men. Their eyes sweep up
and down, appraising him.

Bio:

Jean Van Loon’s first poetry collection Building on River (Cormorant Books, 2018) was a finalist for the Ottawa Book Prize. Her stories, poems, and reviews have appeared in literary magazines in the US and Canada and in Journey Prize Stories.