Running for Your Life: Falafel Guy

Falafel guy is wearing
A T-shirt
That says
I’m OK
The meals he prepares
Are delicious, ample
And a quarter the price
Of Midtown cafes that pony up
The Trumpist lease money
To keep their doers open.

Still, I’ve yet to see a line
Form behind me when
He is busy with fixing
The chicken tikka: ripe tomato slice,
Fresh salad greens, cucumber
Slab, generous slather of homemade relish,
White sauce, squirt-ropes of hot sauce.

I like your T-shirt, I say.
Thank you, he says with an
Open smile. Then a blessing in Arabic,
In his business, which is neither popular nor original,
He thanks God every day.
People live on the street, he says.
When I see them like that how can I
Not thank God for what I have?
Then he utters a second Arabic blessing
Before we exchange honest wishes
That the other has a great day.

Next: Running for Your Life: Rachel Carson on My Mind

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