COFFEE

She is sitting in a corner table
At Cafe Reggio
Sipping a latte
Waiting for him to arrive
But he hasn't shown up yet.

She is reading e.e. cummings
When a male voice says,
"Maggie?"
"Professor Finkelstein. How are you?
Please, join me."
He sat down with his cup of coffee.
They had sat here many times
Four years ago.

He sips his black coffee as she
Tells him how graduate school is.
He tells her how much he's missed her,
The steam obscuring his face.
She gets a flashback of them
At the Roundabout Theater
Watching Streetcar Named Desire.
She remembers how much
In love they were until he
Went to the West Bank
And never came back.
He was an activist
in Palestine.
He never wrote her.

He gives her his card and tells her
To call him.
He finishes up his coffee and leaves.
She orders another latte
When her fiance walks in.

She is about to break
their engagement.

Reviews

[SyberRose]

Nice twist...captivating read...held my interest all the way through...Rose

[Mica L. Bennett]

Oh damn. I just got chills. Way to end it in a didn't see that coming kind of way.

[Cascara (aka Sprint Goe..]

I enjoy this stream of consciousness you've portrayed. In such a short poem, we know so much about this protagonist you've crafted a story about.

[Demii]

Ou this has such a great twist at the end, I liked it, it made me kept reading she sounds almost confused about what she wants, but yet soothing, I like it!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i saw it as..either she was going to break the engagement anyway...and the professor is just a shadow of what she has become...a lover who is leaving...

or, this little interlude had rekindled a love that was dormant.

the prodigal professor returns.

[Frieda P]

Wow I didn't see that coming, and here I thought this was about coffee. Love how you twisted this story within your poetry. Charm'd read.

[NeiL ArandA]

You're very clever with the way you present your plot...You painted and captured the feelings of that girl. Though her boyfriend were left out. I imagine how it felt to hear her say that...Its Over !

[m.s.early]

How social the sharing of coffee. It is often integral for the bonding and dismembering of relationships. As usual you cast a familiar core slice of the human condition in unavoidable imagery.

[Josh Dollar]

That was very good. Not on time did a loose interest.