I ate sausage wrapped in squid tubes
and then I ate grilled lamb with a mint sauce
while we watched people dance
on a darkened stage
swinging ropes made of fire
he was drinking White Russians
claiming it was the season for such
I drank my beer and watched the burning ropes
spinning in circles
then walked around the city for hours
and back home again
crossing the bridge
watching the trains come and go
staring down at the calm waters
of the Willamette river
stopping to listen to a young activist tell me
for the price of a cup of coffee a day
I could save a young life in another country
while the homeless woman across the street
held out her hand for change
it was a comfortable late September
if only for one of us

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