Catherine Wald

VILLANELLE AT MCDONALD'S

At home there is no noise or light;
I rarely welcome company;
no strangers' eyes shine warm and bright.

Here counters sparkle slick and white
in all their clean facilities.
(At home there is no noise or light.)

The smell of fries implies delight.
I can't afford them, just a tea,
where strangers' eyes shine warm and bright.

I've never tried to spend the night—
just share some quiet reverie.
(At home there is no noise or light.)

Please grant me this small human right,
some modicum of dignity,
where strangers' eyes shine warm and bright.

Why scare old pigeons into flight?
Why withhold human sympathy
where strangers' eyes shine warm and bright?
(At home there is no noise or light.)


Catherine reads "Villanelle at McDonald's":



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Catherine confesses: "This poem was inspired by the January 14, 2014 New York Times story of Man Hyung Lee, 77, who was forced by police to leave his usual booth at a McDonald's in Flushing, Queens."


Guest editor Erica Guo's ruling: "Man Hyung Lee’s getting kicked out of McDonalds for overstaying is no exceptional situation, but the normalness of the poem’s theme stops the reader in his/her tracks. All too often we think the subject at hand must be profound and unheard of, but it is our connection to the subject that makes us latch onto every line. Catherine Wald repeats the line 'At home there is no noise or light' every time unwelcome thoughts interject: There is no one who has not been uprooted against their will, whether it be from their country, their hometown, the carefree trajectory of their lives, or even from the local fast food restaurant."

CATHERINE WALD is an author and poet with an unimpressive criminal record. Her chapbook, Distant, burned-out stars was published by Finishing Line Press in 2011.