my friends were
enjoying some ramen
though it could have been spicier

I told them l saw a man
squatting at the Drumm St curb

in a neat dark navy suit
eating some dry ramen noodles
opening the little flavor packets
to sprinkle over them

on the table of his parked suitcase
as he chanted something that
didn’t sound quite Chinese

who knows from what steppes
in his very neat dark suit
he came to eat dry ramen with
such lugubrious delight

— Sarah Menefee