the once upon a time theatre

Photo by Badal Patel on Unsplash

if you chance to walk by
the once upon a time theatre
you will without doubt
just walk on by unless
you fancied some coffee and fritters

the theatre was locked up years ago
no one has gone in or come out
although as legend would have it
a little boy saw a mad looking man
at the window braiding his beard

a young girl passing by one afternoon
saw the curtain being pushed open
and then shut hurriedly
but not before she saw the craggy face
of a sad looking man with a braided beard

a woman sold coffee and snacks on her push cart
at the entrance of the theatre
one evening as the coffee was percolating
she saw the glass door of the window open slowly
and it did everyday as soon as she started the coffee

her customers would explain to friends
as they munched on fritters
how she placed her first coffee and fritters
at the window sill for her ancestor spirits

an then let a cat polish off the food.

and the students laughed 

there certainly was a fat cat somewhere 

with a caffeine high.

© 2020 Padmavani Karkera