First Things First

We wash dishes
before going to the Opera. 

Flirt with the next door neighbour before rescuing a child. 

Get jilted
before meeting the love of our life. 

Marry
before divorcing. 

Board the train that will derail. 

Take a photo
that will outlast us. 

See a man at the traffic lights before he passes sentence
in court. 

See a woman waiting to buy a pen
before she sits down to add another chapter to next year's Booker Prize. 

We meet for coffee to discuss

the stock exchange, 

yesterday's football game 

but first : the cheerful waitress

who survived the car crash 

whose husband got retrenched

writes down: 

two café lattes 

and one skinny cappuccino 

Eva Collins