tom's diner

Probably when Susanne Vega sang the song for the first time, nobody has heard of "blogs" and "blogging". When you listen carefully to the lyrics, though, what is the song but a record of a fleeting, non-significant moment, one of those that you are not able to recall after a week or so - a perfect subject for a blog entry? Blog-writing resembles looking at the world in close-up and making of it a collection of stills. It's registering experiences, one by one, as they come into view, and turning them into subjects of stories almost devoid of plot. Like this one:



Tom's Diner

I am sitting in the morning
At the diner on the corner
I am waiting at the counter
For the man to pour the coffee

And he fills it only halfway
And before I even argue
He is looking out the window
At somebody coming in

"It is always nice to see you"
Says the man behind the counter
To the woman who has come in
She is shaking her umbrella


And I look the other way
As they are kissing their hellos
I'm pretending not to see them
And instead I pour the milk


I open up the paper
There's a story of an actor
Who had died while he was drinking
It was no one I had heard of

And I'm turning to the horoscope
And looking for the funnies
When I'm feeling someone watching me
And soI raise my head


There's a woman on the outside
Looking inside
Does she see me?
No she does not really see me
'cause she sees her own reflection


And I'm trying not to notice
That she's hitching up her skirt
And while she's straightening her stockings
Her hair has gotten wet


Oh, this rain it will continue
Through the morning as I'm listening
To the bells of the cathedral
I am thinking of your voice...



And of the midnight picnic
Once upon a time
Before the rain began...
I finish up my coffee

It's time to catch the train

fleeting - ulotny
non-significant - nic nie znczący
recall - przypomnieć sobie
in close-up - w zblizeniu
a still - fotos
devoid of plot - pozbawiony fabuły
diner - jadłodajnia
at the counter - tu: przy barze
kissing their hellos - całują się na powitanie
fills it only half-way - napełnia tylko do połowy
behind the counter - tu: za barem
hitch up - podkasać
straighten up - poprawiać
a stocking - pończocha