A steaming hiss, the cafe’s blustering breath
competing with idle chatter and forgettable jazz,
reduced to a mummer’s virtuoso, drowned out,
like most things, in the ambient cacophony.
Impatient waiting habit, I check my phone.
A pattern of distraction.
----------------------------
“Order for…!” my name, just a word,
impersonal, anyone, hardly human. An order number,
a credit card, or, less convenient, cash.
Exact change is tedious. Who has time
to count pennies? Get with the times.
Noticeable irritation.
----------------------------
The cup is white, ordinary, on brand,
resting on its saucer. Perfunctory leafy swirl,
primarily edible art. I snap the obligatory
photo, “I was here, I drank this,
it looked nice.” Likes as modern consensus.
Empty affirmation.
----------------------------
A chair, available, nearest to natural light.
A redundant lamp completes the furniture mosaic,
industrial, bohemian, avant-garde, same as every other,
a living room pastiche, a pleasant façade,
an imitation. Everyone and nobody, contrived ubiquity.
Unmet expectation.
----------------------------
I see another, our usual time, late.
Large glasses, oversized sweater, grey, and Birkenstocks.
I like her eyes, bright, oblivious, engrossed
in pleasant facades, a phone screen, glowing,
scrolling, smiling, and liking distracted obligatory photos.
Interconnected isolation.
----------------------------
I stand, coffee unfinished, cold. The atmosphere
predictable, lacking genuine vitality, rinse and repeat.
I leave, and greet the restless night
with a sigh. The sidewalk, narrow, deserted,
strung together by lamplit pools, serene, stoic.
Mutual indifference.
----------------------------
My eyes lift, and soul, ascending, searches.
“Star light, star bright…” a familiar rhyme,
childish, stable. They watch, in perpetual remonstrance
overhead. The steeple’s jewel, crowning, shining, appealing
to squandered innocence, wishing on a melancholy
prayer. I wait, I listen. Hope replies
in silence. Peace.
----------------------------------------------------
Like what you just read? Check out some of my other work!
The Vagabond -- a short story
Kybalion -- a short story
The Experiment -- a horror story
Wisdom -- a haiku
About the Creator
Sean Byers
Literary hobbyist who, in an act of sophomoric hubris, once dreamed of writing the great American novel. In the meantime, I am content to write for the pleasure of the craft and whoever finds my work of any interest.
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