"The Partial Explanation" by Charles Simic

Charles Simic uses an impatient and depressed tone with imagery and repetition to emphasize that silence and nothingness causes sadness and individuals to be impatient in misery. Simic repeats "seems" in "Seems like a long time... / Seems like it has grown darker," to show that the subject has began to count the seconds until the order comes, with boredom overtaking them. Simic brings in a "glass of ice water" to show that this is all that keeps him company. He now feels lonely in the absence of company and a melting glass of ice. The common feeling of a winter's day is also presented, as the "snow falling outside" casts a gloomy feeling into the luncheonette. There is a "longing / An incredible longing" by Simic to be involved with the conversation of cooks, as the author uses repetition to illustrate the seemingly infinite lack of company. Simic searches for a friend between these lines and now grows more and more impatient as time passes, which becomes evident with the use of repetive phrases and gloomy imagery.