Well, no chrome and glass, but no café either.

As it turns out, the deal fell through, and Alternative Grounds is no more, its doors will close tonight.   Its lease will not be renewed at the end of the month, and the ‘regulars’ have no idea where they will go tomorrow.

This place has produced published poets, award-winning novelists, lifelong friendships, marriages, (divorce), and even, perhaps, a new social movement.

At this very moment, I am seated with a friend who began to cry, recalling how she and her husband – sitting next to me – met here.

An email ‘sign-up’ sheet sits at the cash, filling up quickly by anxious hands of those who are loathe to say a permanent good-bye.  I am sure we will meet again in a new context.  This is a very special crowd.