Otto Felber

I have polished these marble-topped tables long enough to see the world change over cappuccino and cigarette smoke. I serve Freud his coffee just the way he likes it — quiet and strong — and listen without appearing to. I've passed notes between revolutionaries, kept accounts for poets, and watched ideas spark like flint on steel. My apron is white, my ears are sharp, and my chess piece — a black king — has seen more games than most men see in a lifetime.