Cafes are one of my favorite places in the world. Take me to any city or small town and I will be happy to spend most of the day in the local cafe. Cafes both calm and inspire me. Maybe I’ll write about my love for cafes in more detail one day, but for now I’m just going to share a short free write/poem I wrote while visiting Tomato Pie Cafe in Lititz one afternoon.

My eyes glance up for a moment of reprieve from my internal discourse

Sitting, surrounded by the familiar, in what’s come to be know as “The Coolest Small Town in America”

My attention is called to the center of the cafe

I’m watching the interaction of father and daughter

He is standing, cradling his daughter, focused

Communicating with his eyes that his affection is solely for her in this moment

Mother is chatting with the waitress at the register

Connections being made, smiles come easily

Kisses abound as he sits back down, his eyes never moving from her face

Mother finishes paying and comes back into the safety of her home

Her arms embrace both daughter and lover

Her heart spilling over as she looks at her most precious ones

The beauty of her face as she looks deeply at the man that she loves is overwhelming

The love he is expressing multiplies the love she feels for him

There is purity here

Nothing to corrupt this love

No ideals of perfection to mar this present

As they embrace each other

Truth is looked at in the eye

Communication is deep, without words, because words are weak

The love portrayed is refreshing as if it was newly grown

But the richness of the picture shows me this love was fought for, it was formed in dark places

A cloud surrounds this picture as they walk out the door

All are aware

But no ones knows

Assumptions can be made

But who really knows