Hotel Lobby

Hotel Lobby There is nothing quite so lived in as a hotel lobby. The seats are worn with daily use, the lighting just the right depth to hide the shadows who have passed through its angles, sharpened with use. The maître d' returns my watchful eye with disdain I do not belong in this hotel lobby; Too many children and shady businessman and painted women have sat where I am sitting, waiting for Charon's taxi to take them back. Even the staff are prepared for the shift change, when they can drop their suits of sophistication for a simpler garb to present to their families. Only the maître d' has made his home here, in the twilight zone between the powerful heat rolling through his glass doors and simulated frigidness within. This lamp here is his candlelight for lonely nights of black-clad faceless staff with pinned-up hair. I am here to observe the wakening of livelihoods; the pre-amble of business meetings; the preparations to an outing day. Perhaps only after will I feel the need to sleep.