Some of us on a bus to boulevard cafe aspire,
taste the hasty humid rain
and feel its hand upon shoulder, so heavy,
that we succumb,
this hunger to escape, to belong and to wander
are all meshed into one–
so potent, that everything else seems irrelevant.
A long dark cardigan and rose-red lipstick,
the journey itself is more meaningful
than reaching to destination.
The trees show us how to bloom
and asphalt bears more cracks than heart,
how we feel during this time,
what we perceive, alone, is poetry on fire;
a glimpse of what life is all about.
The café comes into view, cold coffee sitting
in front of us,
and morsels of conversation from nearby tables
filling the atmosphere,
words can’t express nor satiate the change
that has brewed–
the way we get up and leave before dusk falls
and exchange glances,
what if we persist until we have it all?
Photo credits: Smartphones and lattes by Chiara Pinna, Unsplash
Merril hosts at dVerse where she invites us to write poems in any style
about a transitional time. Come join us! 💙
Posted for Poetics: August Transitions @dVerse Poets Pub
26 Responses
It sounds like the journey has come to an end… when coffee gets cold maybe it’s useless to persist?
It could be that the journey has just begun 🙂 so glad the poem resonated with you, Bjorn 💄💙
the last couplet is profoundly moving Sanaa
Thank you so much, Laura 😀 so glad you liked it 💄💙
Lovely imagery in this poem, Sanaa! I like the sounds in the line ‘taste the hasty humid rain’ and the idea of feeling ‘its hand upon shoulder’. I also like ‘asphalt bears more cracks than heart’. The final stanza feels like an arrival and I love the cold coffee and ‘morsels of conversation’.
Awww gosh! Thank you so much, Kim 😍 so glad you enjoyed it 💄💙
“the journey itself is more meaningful
than reaching to destination.”
But that cold coffee. . .you have me thinking with this one, Sanaa. I feel like maybe you’re about to make some decisions. 💙
Maybe 😉 Thank you so much, Merril 😀 so glad the poem and its imagery appealed to you 💄💙
(and thank you for the glorious prompt) 🥂
That last stanza foretells change is coming and perhaps that is a good thing? I always see transition as reviewing what has happened and evaluating what is to come from our decision. Love the images of cardigan, lipstick, cold coffee and getting up before dusk falls, giving hints to the emotional undercurrents that words cannot say. The reader can only guess what is to come.
Thank you so much, Grace 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄💙
Lovely Sanaa. You vivid descriptions are so well done. I really like this…
the journey itself is more meaningful
than reaching to destination.
Such a great description of life itself!
Thank you so much, Dwight 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄💙
It does seem sometimes like relationships are always in a between state.
Absolutely! Thank you so much, Kerfe 😀 so glad you liked it 💄💙
“and morsels of conversation from nearby tables ”
Bravo Sanaa!!!
Much💖love
Thank you so much, Gillena 😀 so good to see you 💄💙
Much love back 🥂
A bus to the cafe: interesting transit and transition, individually and collectively. The atmosphere is tentative and ambivalent, as if there are many paths one could choose.
Thank you so much, Brendan 😀 so glad the poem and its imagery appealed to you 💄💙
This made me think of a situation where someone used to meet on a regular basis at a coffee shop, maybe with a good friend, and now those meetings have stopped but they still return to the cafe remembering the time they had spent there.
Thank you so much, Christine 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄💙
“The trees show us how to bloom
and asphalt bears more cracks than heart,”
Resonated deeply with this poem and this line 🥺
Your poems go straight to the heart.
Thank you so much, Aboli 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄💙
i have always loved the journey
💙💙💙
The journey to the cafe….the cracks in the asphalt….people watching? “A long dark cardigan and rose-red lipstick, ” and “morsels of conversation” at the cafe….the coffee finally turning cold. And then the exit. Life in a cafe….metaphorical for our journey through life?
It’s metaphorical, yes! Thank you so much, Lillian 😀 so glad you liked it 💄💙