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A Clear Sunday Morning, After A Cold Saturday Night
by Heide McAlister-BatesI sat next to a couple today
at the coffee bar.
A bit younger than us, perhaps.
Reading the newspaper,
smoking companionably,
pausing for a bite of bagel,
a sip of latte.
She had the sniffles -
without speaking, he went to the toilet
and fetched her some tissue.
She laughed and said
"Toilet paper - how posh!".
He laughed and said
"Nothing but the best for you, mate!".
She blew her nose, loudly.
He rolled his eyes, indulgently.
They resumed their reading,
their smoking,
their breakfast.
I sat alone,
drinking my cooling latte,
thinking
"That could be us".
But it isn't, anymore,
is it?
Is it?
04/24/2005 Author's Note: Hmm.
Posted on 04/24/2005
Copyright © 2025 Heide McAlister-Bates
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Timothy Somers on 04/25/05 at 12:03 AM I have never seen such a clear, evocative title followed by the precise words to "back it up". Most excellent read, thanks. |
| Posted by Philip F De Pinto on 04/25/05 at 12:38 PM and think Heide, if you hadn't been alone, you might have been too distracted to have glimpsed this wonderful irony to put to pad and to offer to us fortunates to have read it. |
| Posted by Graeme Fielden on 04/25/05 at 01:31 PM there's a sublime irony within the scene that you've set...perfectly whimsical in its essence; with teeth...:) |
| Posted by Jeffrey Parren on 04/26/05 at 09:37 PM Funny as how after I finished the last line I said to myself the exact same thing in your author's note section! But the question you could or maybe should be asking yourself is if it is a bad thing that you could be like them? Great imagery, very vivid...~JPP |
| Posted by Laura Doom on 04/27/05 at 07:01 PM Poignant conclusion to the cold war - not to be sneezed at - blew me away :) |
| Posted by Kyle Anne Kish on 04/28/05 at 08:30 PM Heide, I always look forward to reading your poetry. This one truly made me look back at the day when I looked at my husband (now ex) and thought, do I want to be rocking in a chair, holding his hand on the front porch when we are old? Obviously the answer was no. Had we been more like the two in poem above, my answer would have been quite different. Thanks for a great read. |
| Posted by Bradd Howard on 04/29/05 at 04:45 PM I was there in the coffee shop with you. Thanks for the great picture and your words. Keep it up |
| Posted by Christina Bruno on 08/18/05 at 01:16 PM a beautifully sad scene. great flow and description, clear and poetic at the same time. a well deserving poem of the day ;) |
| Posted by Charles E Minshall on 08/18/05 at 11:37 PM Congratulations on poem of the day. Well deserving...Charlie |
| Posted by Amanda Conlogue on 08/19/05 at 02:03 AM this is a nice piece, the only thing I would change is the ending. I would cut those last three lines and leave the ending at "That could be us" |
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