0 10B - The Michigan Daily - Literary Magazine - Thursday, March 8, 2001 The Michigan Daily - Literary Maga 1 - ORANGE LATTE By Ckr7tbie M Lasek I couldn't help but wonder at the irony of gas fireplaces. A closely monitored flame harmlessly enveloping ceramic snow covered" logs, all nestled over a bed of some kind of rock that glows faintly to give the illusion of embers. My mind was called back to Christmas Eve to chestnuts roasting on real embers surrounded by wood ash. But then, the heat remains obscured, like breaths of winter ruffling your hair on the play- ground in July; so maybe it was just a back episode of "Family Ties" after all. Other people in the coffee shop seem unaware of the mountain of pertinent irony that refuses to crackle in it's gaseous perfection ... so I forget them, preferring my own thoughts to human companionship, anyway. My chair was pulled too close to the hearth: uncom- fortable, like when you lock eyes with a stranger you know has been watching you. Elliot Smith played harmlessly over the loudspeaker, and "E.T." danced gen- tly on the crusty edges of my imagina- tion. I made a mental note to get more than five hours of sleep that night, and continued drinking my Starbuck's cof- fee; my life depends on it. She came in with a bag of Krispy Kream doughnuts, murdered snowflakes glistened in her hair. "I hate doughnuts," I said. She tossed the bag in my lap with acquired agility. "They're jelly filled," she said, and I made a face. "They'll sweeten your dis- position." I grumbled my reply, and attempted to eat the doughnut around the filling. She sat slouched in the overstuffed velour chair next to me, oblivious to the gas fireplace and its loaded irony. "It seems," she began, from behind a newspaper barricade, "that the trash in the streets has finally succeeded in changing the migration patterns of birds." "How so?" I inquired absently, grape jelly consuming all but a small fraction of my attention. "By providing a ready food source all year round ... and who says human beings don't do anything good for the environment?!" "Sarcasm doesn't become you," I said, sipping black coffee to try erase the sweetness coating my mouth. "You aren't going on another 'spiritual cleans- ing by becoming vegan' are you? 'Cause I'm not going to help you clean tofu out of the carpet if it doesn't agree with you again." "You think too much," she said. "I get a little moody, and you're ready to pack my karma off to bible camp. How do you know I'm not just PMS-ing!" "If you were PMS-ing you wouldn't be sarcastic about the migration patterns of birds, you would have broken down in choked sobs about it." She grunted from behind her paper. "And you do realize," I continued, "that I find it awkward to talk to you from behind your printed page, be it about PMS or otherwise." "Well ... someone has to keep updated on current events in this relationship. I' read the newspaper so that you don't have to ... just like you clean the bath- room so I don't have to." She was still holding the newspaper to her face, but I didn't have to see her to know that she was smirking at this. I knew that she was just trying to light a match under my foot ... but unbeknownst to her, I was wearing flame-proof socks that day. "You know as well as I," I said, folding the rest of the grape jelly into a napkin and putting it back in the bag, "that read- ing the newspaper and cleaning the bath- room are hardly comparable. Besides, if your job is to keep me updated on cur- rent events, you're failing miserably. Current events consist of war and blood- shed, not the migration habits of spar- rows." "Well ... my current events are nicer," she said sulkily. She's cute when she does that, and if we had been alone, I would have shaken her and asked her THAT MOMENT BY JEFF WAIBEL This is that moment Full of promise and grace and turmoil Which shapes your heart and changes your mind And if you can believe in the unbelievable You can stare into darkness and attain All that is waiting for a moment like this I wish I could tell you what I mean I wish I could show you my heart The Dinner Table By Amelia Levin They rolled in the rounded mass Of newly chopped oak With a surface clean and young Oiled up around the edges. They touched the sleekness of its texture, Admired the simple beauty of its curvature, While praising each other for a decision well conceiv Until came the first stain. But in its place I give you my thoughts Full of honesty and confusion Reach for the questions in life and love And turn your head every once in a while For that's where you find contentment And the answers to questions unthought This is that moment Full of promise and grace and turmoil Let it shape your heart and change your mind Take this part of me, the part unseen And use it as a mirror for intentions And don't forget to stand amazed At the power of reflection LOUIS BHOWN/Daily why she needs to keep things in a con- stant state of sarcasm. But I hate con- frontation, so I didn't bring it up. "Come on," I pleaded. "Don't sulk. Fold your paper up. I didn't want to come all the way here to talk current events anyway ... we can do that in bed." She let the paper slide down to the tip of her nose, her left eyebrow pushed up into her hair line. "Is that so?" she asked, her eyes smiling at me. "What did you See LATTE, Page 118 ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY The Michigan Residency Please join us for workshops, lectures, and special events throughout February and March to coincide with the RSC's exclusive American performances of Henry VI Parts 1, 2, and 3, and Richard III. For ticket information for the plays, call the UMS Box Office at 734-764-2538 or email umstix@umich.edu. For a complete schedule of related residency events, visit the website at Oddly shaped and blotchy, A tone too pale to match the chestnut hue Produced a mother's agonizing nightmare, Telling her the precious furniture Was beginning to wear down. Then emerged the mark of blood red wine during a toast To cover the ashen dye from morning newspapers, Corrupt the insides of its maturing crevices, And amass with the blemish of evening messes. Still, every Monday and Friday it received a prompt oiling When the mother scrubbed the pitiful top Cursing her frustrations As she purified the tattered plane. But the glossy surface had already vanished long ago. It began to learn of politics and problems, Bore the first beating of an angry fist, Heard the shouts, the cries and the laughter As they resonated throughout its wooden chambers. And it became a need. A ritual; a place of gathering; The sanctuary of a growing child. But upon that inevitable day, They rolled it back outside the house, Felt the scars and saw the stains, Kissed it goodbye - And put the polisher back inside the cupboard. I I you know that little v inside that says' this summer, Bring your "can-do" attitude to Camp Challenge. Wher( you'll get paid to learn how to become a leader and ac( skills that'll help you meet the challenges you'll face ir career. Apply today at the Army ROTC department, wit obligation. Before that voice tells you to take a vacatior RMY ROiC Unlike any other college < For Camp and Scholarship In Call Lieutenant Colonel McCormick 73 www.umich.edu/pres/shakespeare