In a Restaurant

As he watched her
she did not look up from her magazine,
and the day before when he watched
she did not take her eyes off
her romance novel,

for she was blind to real romance,
where young men groom their hair
in the reflection of restaurant windows,

she was blind to the romance
of an adoring stare
over the clatter of food trays
and lunch conversations.

So she continued to ignore him,
securing her heart behind menu and book
without a glance of encouragement.
She spared not one tender look.

This could have been the start
of a beautiful friendship,
but she felt safer befriending Harlequin,
afraid of what her clumsy smile
might reveal to him.

Lisa Lindsey



first appeared in Penwood Review
October, 2004