Charlotte's

Wintry twilight fell on a fast train
destined for the city. Shadowy 
snow twirled past the windows,
blurring the view; Cary, Fox River Grove, 
downtown Barrington faded in, faded out.

Close to Palatine, I  pictured Charlotte's.
Charlotte's.  I've visited this place in dreams.
I gazed out the window, saw snow
shimmer and dance amongst brushy teasel
and grasses lining the parkway by Rt. #14.

No matter, I pictured the longtime
trailer, once a bar. Over the years it
grew into a sandwich shop,
eventually emerged as the memorable
pizza parlor loved by young and old.

Thin crust pizza, squiggles of cheese
melted to perfection. Only sausage and
cheese offered early on. Cravings for
spicier ingredients were added by patrons,
before pies slid into the oven.

Charlotte's opened in the fifties.  At its
height, bricks rose around said trailer, then
inside-out, was demolished and remodeled.
The site closed in the late eighties with promises
to move down the street a mile or so.

Memories.  
Images in soft light, dining room
rush.  Cigarette smoke
mixed with oregano, basil and garlic;
the tang of hops.

Charlotte's, 
often close to capacity,
filled to the rafters with;
noisy chatter and Buffalo china clatter.
Best described as a veritable din.

Regulars remember the clank of
longneck, bottled beers, can't forget
hot, stretchy mozzarella cheese.
Dishes passed through a window.
Throaty bark of a big dog.

Lamplight angled as the 
snub-nosed engine, the 5:38p.m., sliced
through billowing snow as it raced east.
Thick weeds contained by a chain link
fence meant nothing.

Charlotte's lives.

                                                                                         february 6, 2013