Probably not always as seems intended: I can only speak for myself, but to add to the possibilities as to why one may not respond to a comment, there have been times when I didn't receive a notification that I got a comment, and/or it got buried in spam. Every now and again, till this day, going back through my work I discover a comment I missed - sometimes from nearly a decade ago!
There are also times where I was aware of a generous comment left and honestly intended to write the reviewer back (even if just to say "thank you"), but was pulled away and forgot to do so upon my return.
The latter is something I can and do try to improve upon, though I am tasked with taking on both a faulty memory and a habit of filling my day's with more than I can possibly accomplish.
Awesome twist there, the car: Awesome twist there, the car at the bar: leaves a choice of imagery - the depersonification into an automobile or a personification of the human condition as in Lightning McQueen at a bar. Or even more. Pure enjoyment of a poem undergirding the truth that it bares.
Hope you are feeling better: Hope you are feeling better from the flu. H. Piper Beam has many of his works on the Gutenberg Project: an online collection of over 600,000 titles of literary works whose copyrights have already expired: https://www.gutenberg.org/
I'm there and I'm feeling it.: I'm there and I'm feeling it. You did an expert job creating a frantic, claustrophobic and hostile atmosphere that reflects the inner discord of the diners. A highly significant poem that has the impact of postmodernist art. Brilliant title as well.
It is a privilege to comment: It is a privilege to comment on a poem posted so early in Postpoems' history, and so well-written a tribute. The last three lines present a profound perspective from which, alas, too many of us (including my sorry self) have turned.
I love poems that contain: I love poems that contain astronomical images, and this one deploys them right at the outset. Although an integral part of this very fine poem, the first four lines constitute a poem of their own, an aphoristic poem. It is an honor and a delight to be able to comment on this poem, written by one of Postpoems' first Poets and, therefore, a pioneer of online Poetry.
Please forgive my delay in: Please forgive my delay in replying . . . I am struggling with non-Covid flu right now, from my grandson's kindergarten. I had forgotten about Piper Beam, of whom I had read but whose stories I have not been able to read. And let me say again how much I like your poem. I like to read science fiction poetry online, but yours is superior to many I have read, and I am not just saying that; I really do mean it.