cafe visit

today i find the space to be in the hood

nurturing to be in the cafe
drinking matte and watching the oddness
from the corner of the couch
comfortable with cranberry scone and journal

a rotund man fans himself
with the times crossword he is working on
a younger man naps between visits
from his full-figured girlfriend

i query the man next to me
his face weathered by age
yet with piercing blue eyes
if there is anything worth reading in his daily

we turn pleasantly toward anarchistic topics
a kansas farmer he recently visited
who singlehandedly uses
more water per year to grow his corn
than the water used in a year
by the entire city of albuquerque

we move on to his distaste for the we
he considers the cause of so much delusion

along with his general indictment of overpopulation
which in retrospect makes little sense
being so much a result of self-interest
at the expense of the we

nevertheless i am grateful for the interesting conversation
reminding me how much of an individualist i also am
and how my own current journey into we

differs noticeably from years past
when my boundaries were so much less defined
and needs less insistent
within we

for i