Such contrast
with time,
awakens emotion
far above what
feels familiar.

Black coffee,
thin and weak.
We talk above the rising steam
about fires within.

Up those wooden steps
past the two Skeletons hanging by the two windows
and through the door that can be nudged open by the breeze,
Dog wiggles brightly
for my arrival.
If a new friend comes in too,
her boundaries are pushed and
out-she-pushed a snarl
fierce--too fierce--for a small pup.

Outside the shade will cool
but the Sun is what we need...