The Last Red-Eye

My cafe is closing. Today is the last day, and this steaming cup is my last red-eye here. For six years I have opened this place up at six a.m. to brood on the coming day, gather my demons together so I can see them clearly, identify what is important to me, pray a little bit, and write. It's been a kind of sacred ritual that will have to change, as all things must. So, I say goodbye, give a farewell kiss to  those mornings when words came to me. To all of those friends who I would never have met -- Gail, Bruce, Daniel, Chris, Danica, Cheryl, Sarah, and others -- I wish you well as we part paths. The coffee club disbands and life goes on, changed but aware of what is lost and what has been gained. Adios companeros.