TOM'S DINER

--words and music by Suzanne Vega

I am sitting			I open
In the morning			Up the paper
At the diner			There's a story
On the corner			Of an actor

I am waiting			Who had died
At the counter			While he was drinking
For the man			It was no one
To pour the coffee		I had heard of.

And he fills it			And I'm turning
Only halfway			To the horoscope
And before			And looking
I even argue			For the funnies

He is looking			When I'm feeling
Out the window			Someone watching me
At somebody			And so
Coming in			I raise my head

"It is always 			There's a woman
Nice to see you"		On the outside
Says the man			Looking inside
Behind the counter		Does she see me?

To the woman			No she does not
Who has come in			Really see me
She is shaking			Cause she sees
Her umbrella			Her own reflection

And I look			And I'm trying
The other way			Not to notice
As they are kissing		That's she's hitching
Their hellos			Up her skirt

I'm pretending			And while she's
Not to see them			Straightening her stockings
Instead				Her hair
I pour the milk			Is getting 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



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Teacher's notes

This is an imagist poem which just really describes what she sees, 
but you will notice the interesting thing that happens at the end
of the poem.  It is actually a poem of lost love.  What happened to
her which has left her sitting alone in a diner on a Sunday morning?
She is watching others kiss and be warm while she is nothing who 
cannot even be seen by the woman outside.  What was the midnight
picnic?  There is also the wistful "once upon a time".  This 
is a really nice idea of how to use simple images to describe a
scene, tell a story and communicate deeply felt emotions. Even the
rain is perfect for the sense of desolation and early morning quiet.
Give this time to soak in -- play it and then ask the students to just
tell you the best images and why the images are effective --do the
images reflect an occurence in their own lives?  I had one girl cry
profusely as we reached the end of our conversation. Apparently, 
she and her mother had sat in a diner early in the morning waiting
for a train to take them away from her father after the parents
separated. She remembered the rain most of all.