'Work Party' by Alicia Burden

Work party

The candlelight flickers

from the other end of the room

creating a small globe of warmth

that only the bitter smell of singed cotton escapes

carried across on the fragile air of the restaurant

to this table

There are lots of people I don’t know sitting around this big table

my brain works fast, it flickers

over the strange faces and strange words which seep out into the restaurant

our big table dominating the room

someone’s booming voice impossible to escape

so I search again for the warmth

It seems to have shrunk, the warmth

tightened around the small corner table-

they have escaped

into the gleaming eye flickers

sat opposite each other and blocking out the room

at the other end of the restaurant

A plate cuts in front of them- the chaos of the restaurant

chimes again, absorbing the warmth

and the plate weaves through the room

makes it way to this table

the waiter’s smile flickers

she throws it down in front of me then escapes

They all stare- I stand for the loo, make an escape

creep across the sticky floor of the restaurant

towards the candle flickers

towards the warmth

towards the table

at the other end of the room

I reach the other end of the room

slipping towards the door that says toilets also fire escape

perfect- I peek at the flickering faces at the flickering table

here, they touch hands hidden from the rest of the restaurant

I feel seeping from them the warmth

my heart flickers

I wish to be at this table at the other end of the room

the one that flickers, where there is escape

I look back through the restaurant to the big table, the one that saps all the warmth

Words by Alicia Burden

Photo by Unsplash

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