taipei 4 a.m.

by A. Razor

​this is a noodle shop
with graveyard shift
workers & gangsters
with hookers

in an hour it will be
closed for food service
becoming a watch &
shoe repair at 5a.m.

by 8a.m. it will be dry
cleaning & life insurance
with a wedding/funeral
planner office in the back

I will be asleep in the hotel
or riding a scooter to Xinfeng
by the time this business
becomes anything else

but, I will be back at 4a.m.
for the best hot noodles
watching the cultural insomnia
working without remorse

as I weigh out all my decisions
up til now, balanced so precariously
sipping broth so hot & flavored
that love gets lost for a moment

in the fog of every breath exhaled