That small outdoor café
With a single table and chair
Under a huge old tree
With one lone customer
Who looks like my father
Engrossed in some book
Unaware a pretty waitress
Is waiting to take his order,
While the tree above them
Is now all dark and silent
As if fallen under a spell.
—Charles Simic
Charles Simic, whose many books of poetry included Come Closer and Listen and The Lunatic, died on January 9, 2023. As our farewell tribute to this greatly valued Threepenny contributor, we plan to publish all five of the remaining poems he gave us in our Winter 2024 issue.
