Poetry by Carol Barrett
Barely after six on a cold December morning, I pull into
my favorite drive-through and order my usual—hazelnut
truffle mocha with whipped cream and caramel drizzle, wait
for the steaming hot cup to glide through my open window.
Suddenly a worker crashes through the front door of the shop,
arms raised, swatting wildly, yanking down all the green
and red foil fringe wafting from rafters. What’s gotten into him?
Some scrooge out to ruin Christmas? Disgruntled employee
bent on revenge? He is determined to eradicate the bling, despite
the company logo Love Abounds bold on his sweatshirt back,
while the two pouring shots and flavors ask, What on earth
are you doing? They too like the giddy décor, pampering spirits.
I overhear his reply, though I am sure they are trained to keep
such revelations to a whisper, so as not to distract the regulars
in urgent need of a wake-me-up, or a soothing hot chocolate.
Turns out the fringe has been blowing all night, yards and yards
of frothy wonder dancing in the warm draft from the furnace,
16-inch silvery slivers shimmering despite absent baristas.
The manager had to call someone four times in the middle
of the night to check on the place, as the motion detector
suspected an intruder making off with state-of-the-art
equipment, high-grade Columbian coffee, or Santa’s tip jar,
red-capped teddy on the handle. She couldn’t imagine
the source of disturbance, finally recalled the seasonal
motif authorized the day before. She hadn’t picked it out
personally, or might have put two strands together sooner.
The choice was what the seventeen-year-old night crew
came up with, naturally prone to glitz and drama. They delivered.
The place now back to bare essentials, my creamy restorative
ready to sip. No bat in the belfry. We can ring in a new day.
Carol Barrett has published three volumes of poetry, most recently Reading Wind, and one of creative nonfiction, Pansies. An NEA Fellow in Poetry, she teaches for Antioch University and Saybrook University. Carol’s poems appear in venues in seven countries, and in over sixty anthologies.
