Sitting in the windowed nook,
We PAUSE from all the worries.
Laughing as we make fingerprints
in the FROST on our oh so cold mugs.
It’s NOISY, vibrant with happy people,
more children than is typical.
A Buddha statue silhouetted
in the evening light has his back to us,
The front of house manager greets
and oversees without seeming BOSSY
I express concern about ordering a dish
containing so many varieties of seafood.
Imagining the impact, remembering
multiple miseries of unwise choices.
In the fountain vivid orange fish swim
through the tangle of lily pads,
MOSSY rocks dot the small courtyard.
We sword fight with our chopsticks,
then deftly use them to hoist spicy noodles,
rice, tofu, shrimp, broccoli into our eager mouths.
I think of us as baby birds, waiting
while our hand mothers descend,
poking about, searching
for the best bit to carry up.
And so we are fed,
abundance in tiny bites

Heather