by Robert - just a simple man - B.
Member since:
April 12, 2007

WAITRESS

November 24, 2011 06:04 PM UTC (Updated: November 24, 2011 06:33 PM UTC)
views: 0 | 15 people recommend this | comments: 24

Waitress

©Robert C Burnham

(for the waitresses I have met and the ones I've yet to)

 

Have you ever stopped

at the all-night diner

Just north of Laredo,

and south of everything else?

 

There is a girl there

She will take your order

Smiling,

as she does so -

Even if it is 3 in the morning

 

Her name is Lois

And she is kin

To a million others

Just like her –

 

Would it really hurt you

to return her smile?

 

 

 

 

 

WHETSTONE:

The artwork presented here I found after writing the poem.  I have not heard of Rolf Harris before today.  The painting is titled, “The Waitress”:

Born in Perth, Western Australia, Rolf Harris has always loved art; Even before he went to Primary School, whenever anyone asked him "What are you going to be when you grow up?" his immediate response was "An artist!".  Rolf has been awarded the CBE.   Recently he was made an honorary member of the Royal Society of British Artists. His portrait of Her Majesty The Queen, commissioned by the BBC to celebrate her eightieth birthday, was the subject of a BBC1 programme ‘The Queen, by Rolf‘ which was screened on New Year's Day 2006.  I enourage you to visit his website.

 

 

Comments: 24

stephen berwaldt Nov 24, 2011, 6:29pm UTC
I have a waitress or two
I wish I'd pursued the
conversation that ensued
as she brought me my food
and reason to muse...

Good one, Robert...a hard job and oft undervalued...

Thank you submitting to the Gather’s Best Writers and Artists.
Robert - just a simple man - B. Nov 24, 2011, 6:38pm UTC
Happy Thanksgiving Stephen and thank you for your loyal readership throughtout the year. God Bless.
stephen berwaldt Nov 24, 2011, 7:01pm UTC
Still looking good from over here... :)

Thank you submitting to the Triple Name Club.
Randi Burnham-Brown Nov 24, 2011, 6:54pm UTC
Being a waitress most of my life except for my 12 years of teaching I will say some smile and some growl but all in all the job is a great service and I love the way you told about it in this poem. The picture sure is nice.
Jan S. Nov 24, 2011, 7:08pm UTC
Dave Barry said that we can tell a lot about a person by the way he treats a waitress. I agree. A smile works magic sometimes.
lena k. Nov 24, 2011, 7:14pm UTC
NICE
JOHN BECK Nov 24, 2011, 7:42pm UTC
I sincerely second the sentiment, Robert.
Robert - just a simple man - B. Nov 24, 2011, 8:20pm UTC
Thank you Mr. B - I am glad to have you to say "Happy Thanksgiving" to.
Kushal Poddar Nov 24, 2011, 7:55pm UTC
A kin to million others, indeed. Great poem, brother
Vj McMullan Nov 24, 2011, 9:33pm UTC
Very nice, we need all need kind smiles and words.
Dennis Gilman Nov 25, 2011, 12:21am UTC
I met one like that also Robert. Returned the smile. Found out after I brought Pauline on a date there that she had a crush on me.
Dennis Gilman Nov 25, 2011, 12:21am UTC
I still smile at waitresses.
I really like this poem. Waitresses have a hard job and are underpaid for what they do.
Heidi S. Nov 25, 2011, 4:01am UTC
Very sweet poem. I worked graveyard shift at a Howard Johnson's in Detroit. There was a bar across the street that closed at 2:00 a.m. ....
Irina Dimitric Nov 25, 2011, 4:08am UTC
I love your poem and love Rolf Harris too. I watched him on TV when he was painting the Queen. Lovely man, so modest in spite of fame. Great entertainer . There was a Rolf Harris show on Australian TV a long time ago when he used to sing his songs and paint on stage. Then he went to the UK where he was very successful . I haven't seen his painting of the waitress before. It's beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Jean R B. Nov 25, 2011, 6:23am UTC
This is a great poem to a waitress. I have had met many waitress"s in my travels.
CL Mareydt Nov 25, 2011, 10:14am UTC
:)

THANK YOU FOR SHARING AT SURREAL CIRCUS!
Doug Westberg Nov 25, 2011, 1:19pm UTC
Lovely. Good thought. We had the loveliest waitress yesterday at the Thanksgiving dinner at my folks' retirement home. Lovely young woman, about my youngest daughter's age (20), sweet as can be, eager to please. Maybe in some cosmic way this will get back to her...
Richard Lynn Livesay Nov 25, 2011, 1:26pm UTC
good poem...there are good ones and bad ones...good ones can bring in 50 to $100 a night...I ran a 24hr restraurant one time and my 2nd wife did some cocktail waitressing
Angela A. Nov 25, 2011, 6:47pm UTC
Yes, those in the food service deserve more respect then they seem to get these days. As a person that works in a restaurant myself, I can tell you a let of things that customers do, or don't do that can be a pain.
Please be polite next time you see someone working in overdrive.
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Shelbia C. Nov 25, 2011, 7:42pm UTC
great poem
Sandy Moore Nov 25, 2011, 11:57pm UTC
I did my share of waitress work and know how much a smile means. If I get a grumpy waitress I can usually get them to smile.
Sandy Moore Nov 26, 2011, 12:00am UTC
Thank you for sharing with Watching The Wind Blow By
john k. Nov 26, 2011, 10:16pm UTC
You've captured how waitresses have inspired many a stranger. Made me think of another poem in a different direction, Passing Through a Small Town

http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2005/01/01

Thanks for sumbiting to Gather's Best Writers and Artists.

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