waiting for an appointment

Through the clear window
of the clean cafe the passers-by
keep stumbling across
neat pavements by painted
shop fronts -- the mothers
and aunts carrying
children and coffee cups, the restless
few carrying a twitch and
a cigarette for despair.

Within, a pair of old lovers,
comforted by each others' scents
mingling with the smell of coffee grounds,
whisper into the ears of books.