Latte Moments

Incremental Tales

I

Watching couples
As they sit, drinking their lattes
Reading newspapers
Half listening to each other
Or gazing into the space beyond the shoulder
Of the person opposite
In the comfortable silence of many years
Glancing at others passing by
Nudging each other as some fancy human peacock
Or drab human pea-hen ambles past
Smiling at babies in prams
Wrapped up against the cold

How they appear to us
As outsiders
Dressed in casual gear unrelated
To their day to day persona
That I can only guess at
That parent there with two kids
Misbehaving with no control
Or attention paid to
The chairman of the world, Monday to Friday
But today just another geeky dad

~~

II

A different day
Yet not. Just different people
Doing the same as before
Chatting, glancing, ignoring
Or showing photos on phones
Of happier times or events
Smiles and laughs and nudges of memories
“Do you remember…?”
“Oh yes and what about…? Whatever happened to him?”

Still sitting here amidst the chaos
Of uncleared tables that annoy
That sense of order
Where do the assistants hide
To avoid doing their jobs?
Worn to a frazzle with
Half a shift left to do but
No sympathy from dragon women
Who sit and make poetry
Out of their lack of diligence,
Distaste barely hidden.