by Jeffrey Zable
Upon awakening, I had this hopeless feeling that nothing mattered—
mainly, that my life didn’t matter!
I have awakened with this feeling many times before and have just
made myself push through it—especially when I was working or had
something important to take care of.
Other times, I’ve just stayed in bed and allowed the feelings
to consume me, which could do so for several hours before
I was able to get up and carry on.
Fortunately, this time, my wife—who was already up—
came into the bedroom and said, “I’m running late. . .
will you drive me to work?”
To which I answered, “Sure. . . no problem!”
Then, after getting dressed and rushing down some cereal,
I felt a little better.
On the way back home, I stopped to get some gas at the station
where I sometimes do, and said to the guy behind the counter—
who I know is a native speaker of Spanish— “Por favor…
veinte dolares en el numero cuatro.”
Handing him the money, he responded, “Muchas gracias, Señor!”
Then, just before turning to leave, I said, “Tu Español es excellente!”
which made him laugh, while simultaneously making me feel the best
I’d felt so far this morning. . .
© Jeffrey Zable
Jeffrey Zable is a teacher, conga drummer/percussionist who plays Afro-Cuban folkloric music for dances classes and rumbas around the San Francisco Bay Area, and a writer of poetry, flash-fiction, and non-fiction. He’s published five chapbooks and his writing has appeared in hundreds of literary magazines and anthologies more recently in The Paradox, Beach Chair, Hot Pot, Witcraft, New English Review, Cacti Fur, Uppagus, and many others.
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