msh58

have been eating in that parking lot for years
its in a strip mall
go to burger king
cheeseburger large fry
and park in front of the grocery store
save on my food budget that way
when i finally walk into the store

old man always parked at the very end of the parking lot
sitting in his chair
thick glasses on
watching the sky

has a radio playing next to him
those slow blues songs
the ones that just roll along
and eventually get there
"blues before sunrise" by john lee hooker
"goin back home" by lightning hopkins
many others i don't recognize

had seen him there for years
and finally drove over
and parked next to him
took my chair out of the trunk
and sat next to him
his eyes never left the sky

went through all the pleasantries
the weather and all that
and asked if he came here every day
he told me his story

had an agreement with his wife
whoever died first
would try to send a sign in the sky
between 12 and 1 on a particular day
that they had made it to heaven

strip mall has a large parking lot
biggest section of sky in the town
so he'd show up at 11:30
watch the sky and listen to tunes
and leave at 1:30
just to make sure
he hadn't missed anything

couldn't help but notice the thick glasses

said goodbye and walked toward the store
some employees out there on break
came up to me to see what the old guy was all about
they'd never talked to him either
told them everything

i still sit with him on mondays
my shopping day
has a lot of company now every day
employees of the stores in that area
all sit out there with him on lunch
chatting it up
some people slow dancing to the music

but everyone with one eye on the sky