Touch Barrier - Edit 1

[Wjames]

Pretending to read a book with one eye on the door
from a small round table by the window
overlooking the park, a bell jingles
gravity and light.

You linger on the book before meeting her gaze,
rising with a grin and joining her in line
quipping grey about the weather.

The mumbled it’s nice to meet you’s and coffee orders
project through film. At the table, you talk about the cat
in one of the pictures on her profile.

She says she likes music with simple melodies,
something you might hum in the shower
years after you last heard it.

She’s wearing a green cardigan
with a modestly revealing white top underneath.

In a silence, her brown eyes lock with yours.

She leans in to place her drink on the table
and your neck inches forward
before the door jingles open.

Her brother is an athlete and was the favourite child,
and she teaches dance on Sundays.

When the coffee’s finished,
you stroll down the trail in the park
stopping to sit at a bench by the pond.

Pretending to read a book
at the small round table by the window
overlooking the park, a bell jingles
as she opens the door and eyes
about the room.

You linger on the book before meeting her gaze,
rising with a grin and joining her in line
quipping grey about the weather.

The mumbled it’s nice to meet yous
and coffee orders happen outside yourself.

At the table, you talk about the cat
in one of the pictures on her profile,
a black foster named Fox
who loves tuna but won’t touch salmon.

She says she likes music with simple melodies,
something that gets buried in the ear
and rises every few months to be hummed.

She’s wearing a green cardigan
with a modestly revealing white top underneath,
and her brown eyes lock with yours.

When the drinks are finished,
you stroll down the trail in the park
stopping to sit at a bench by the pond.