Sonnet of the Everyday (Hopper's "Nighthawks") By Hank Kalet

This is part of a larger group of poems called Sonnets of the Everyday:

Sonnet of the Everyday
(Hopper’s "Nighthawks")

By Hank Kalet

Staring into the faces –
what is that blank stare,
cracked from the face
frozen behind the glass?
What is that distance
that keeps the smile buried
beneath a sullen non-committance?
What is that late night,
weary scowl,
permanent like a water mark
on the table top,
soaked into the linoleum
of the loneliest
of counters?