The Writers’ Cafe Magazine #14 (Online) December 2018
It seems like half the town comes in
for coffee between noon and two,
most of them hooded and mittened
against the cold, some of them
—despite their best efforts—
appear nearly frostbitten, their
movement toward the café tables slow,
their utterances clipped, their eyes
still frozen into a sub-zero squint.
He peers at them intently
from his corner table, observes
them so carefully that, mesmerized,
he almost ceases to exist.
Suddenly, a snow squall breaks out
over by the periodicals. Small drifts
build up around the travel guides,
ice forms on the cookbooks.