She hides behind her amber-dripping hair
as her charcoal eyes flash
beneath the sweep of her bangs.
Her cup of coffee gets cold
and the added cream floats on the top, brooding
as her pen leaks blue ink on the paper in her journal.

She hides behind the poetry, the words..
Memories pressed between the pages
like dried flowers,
hopes and dreams still wistful and ethereal
as they're scribbled between the lines
in an artist's penmanship.

She wraps her arms around her shoulders
and drowns in her knitted scarlet sweater,
rubbing her arms trying to keep warm.
Biting her lower lip, she closes the book
this continuing saga called her life,
and pauses.

She pulls out the loose change in her pocket
leaving it on the tabletop by the salt shaker.
Grabbing her coat, sliding out from the booth,
she smiles at the waiter and walks out of the diner
into the November cold.

12/03/2000

Posted on 11/08/2002
Copyright © 2024 Melissa Arel