It must have been long
since I was stranded here
for the dusk too dense to hold
and the coffee too cold to drink
A book at hand, pages turned
as if I am an intruder
into reading of another me
by waking up, in this empty cafe
A feeling of deja vu
I've been here before, yes
it's the sidewalk I pass by every day
but in that world, I never see a cafe there
Dusk lapses into night
a streetlamp lits up overhead
little flying bugs drop on my lap
Time to go, I rise to leave
Startled, I pause halfway
fallen leaves pile up at the corner
just as I saw them in the day
someone swept them into a lovely cone
but with a closer look, I find
instead of autumn leaves
they are red lobsters
stacked high into a small hill
as red,
as flaming flames