Night air warm and dry
Silky fur of cats
Brushing the skin of her calves
Mewling an unintelligible
Chorus of sorts
Sliver of a moon
Chattering and chewing mouths
Distant honks of impatient taxis
Banal songs from a piano
Her table set for one
Cool, white wine,
Crisp asparagus, tart cheeses,
Salt-kissed fish and warmed cockles
Red, fleshy tomatoes
Crusty bread, drizzles of oil.
A perfect night
But for the emptiness of the air,
Silent conversations,
Untouched skin and hair
Coffee unshared
Then, strangely, sounds
Intermingled,
Taxi honks and cats' meows
And piano tinklings and splashes
Of wine hitting glass bottoms
She remembered the strains of a
Song, a chorus she finally understood,
About a lonely man sitting on a
Beach of beauties, watching a
Strange woman walk by
He was lonely, but he loved,
In that moment, the stranger
Unreachable, the prize
Untouchable, the rush of
Emotion filled him with life
She stood, with the courage
That only loneliness can fuel
And walked to the microphone,
Startling the bored piano player
From his waking nap
She asked him if he knew the song,
Though she did not speak his language,
And he did not speak hers,
But the language of music
Is universal, we all know
Together, he played and she sang
Blathering diners snapped to attention
Astounded and fascinated by
The lonely woman singing
About the lonely man
Her voice was low and breathy
Perhaps due to her fear
But it sounded right in that moment,
Full of longing for someone
To reach through the distance
She was not a great singer and
He was not a great piano player, but
Together they filled the empty night air
With a beautiful song, one that grabbed
And bound them all together
Despite the chattering mouths and
The clinking glasses and knives and
Honking taxis in the distance, they
Were all lonely in some way, it seems, all
Knowing the feelings of desire unfulfilled
So the lonely woman singing about a
Lonely, longing man on a faraway beach
Was their song too, and they
Could remember lost moments such as these,
Lost opportunities
Suddenly they were not alone anymore,
None of them at all, not the homeless cats,
Not the diners making empty conversation,
Nor the honking taxi drivers, nor the
Bad piano player nor his sudden muse
No, they were all bound together in that
Moment when they all realized
That they all shared the same need
To be touched and held and wanted,
By beauty that cruelly passes them by
She walked back to her table, to silent,
Stunned faces, but after a moment passed,
Sudden bursts of applause, and this
Warmed her for a moment, and overflowed
Her table set for one
Silky fur of cats
Brushing the skin of her calves
Mewling an unintelligible
Chorus of sorts
Sliver of a moon
Chattering and chewing mouths
Distant honks of impatient taxis
Banal songs from a piano
Her table set for one
Cool, white wine,
Crisp asparagus, tart cheeses,
Salt-kissed fish and warmed cockles
Red, fleshy tomatoes
Crusty bread, drizzles of oil.
A perfect night
But for the emptiness of the air,
Silent conversations,
Untouched skin and hair
Coffee unshared
Then, strangely, sounds
Intermingled,
Taxi honks and cats' meows
And piano tinklings and splashes
Of wine hitting glass bottoms
She remembered the strains of a
Song, a chorus she finally understood,
About a lonely man sitting on a
Beach of beauties, watching a
Strange woman walk by
He was lonely, but he loved,
In that moment, the stranger
Unreachable, the prize
Untouchable, the rush of
Emotion filled him with life
She stood, with the courage
That only loneliness can fuel
And walked to the microphone,
Startling the bored piano player
From his waking nap
She asked him if he knew the song,
Though she did not speak his language,
And he did not speak hers,
But the language of music
Is universal, we all know
Together, he played and she sang
Blathering diners snapped to attention
Astounded and fascinated by
The lonely woman singing
About the lonely man
Her voice was low and breathy
Perhaps due to her fear
But it sounded right in that moment,
Full of longing for someone
To reach through the distance
She was not a great singer and
He was not a great piano player, but
Together they filled the empty night air
With a beautiful song, one that grabbed
And bound them all together
Despite the chattering mouths and
The clinking glasses and knives and
Honking taxis in the distance, they
Were all lonely in some way, it seems, all
Knowing the feelings of desire unfulfilled
So the lonely woman singing about a
Lonely, longing man on a faraway beach
Was their song too, and they
Could remember lost moments such as these,
Lost opportunities
Suddenly they were not alone anymore,
None of them at all, not the homeless cats,
Not the diners making empty conversation,
Nor the honking taxi drivers, nor the
Bad piano player nor his sudden muse
No, they were all bound together in that
Moment when they all realized
That they all shared the same need
To be touched and held and wanted,
By beauty that cruelly passes them by
She walked back to her table, to silent,
Stunned faces, but after a moment passed,
Sudden bursts of applause, and this
Warmed her for a moment, and overflowed
Her table set for one
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