Mont-Royal after Dark

Behind the plate glass, behind the empty outside baskets and washed blackboard, tomatoes shine in red pyramids and leeks stand at attention like sailors. White mattresses in dormitory rows already sleep under all-night lights while men in black suits discuss the day's receipts. Outside the Intermarché the man with the tattooed face eats something rapidly, seated on his blanket; the pencil-seller lurches sideways down the street; a wheelchair races through the crosswalk, a dark blur across the sparkly mannequins in Christmas party dresses. In the bar a few people are drinking. I buy bread and milk; start home. Coughs echo behind a green tarp hung in a doorway: someone's bedroom for the night.

Comments

[marja-leena]

Vivid picture
painted with words
a city's soul

[Dave]

Empty sandwich board.
The man with the tattooed face
wolfs down his supper.

[beth]

Wow - this is becoming a trend! Thank you both.

[Lucy]

Very atmospheric, wintry city evenings,mmm.
Do you know the French expression 'faire le poireau'? It means to be kept waiting. standing around by someone, fruitlessly and feeling rather foolish,like your leeks standing to attention!