the nearly undetectable live performance

i state this for
artistic reflection only

on friday of last week
i stood in a coffee shop in
fargo north dakotah
and sang songs and played
my guitar for an hour and a half

when i finished as i walked
out the door to the car
i reflected inwardly
that nobody there knew my name
no-one betrayed
any curiosity as to why i was there
no-one

from my point of view it looked
as if my musical presence was of no more value
right then than if a CD was to fill up the aural vaccuum

intentionally
i was determined to not play over
any conversation going on in the room
so i at least remained attentive to all the sound
happening there
the tapping on the keypads
the words shared here and there
the sound of the milk steamer

one lovely young highschool girl
stopped and sat at a table directly in front of me
and spoke once or twice on her
cell phone
texted a mssg or 2
looked at me with no more interest
than one might look when window shopping

most of the patrons were immersed in
the worldwideweb

my success was to begin without fanfare
play without recognition
and depart with nary a nod
a perfectly clean musical anonymous moment
an invasion
with no prisoners
no blood spilled
no money transacted
(except for the tea i purchased)

perhaps the role of the musician
or at least one role
is to learn how to assume the area of muzak
when all the electricity is turned off

the revolution
will not be amplified
might not even be noticed
for awhile