Poetry in Unusual Places

I sat at Caribou by myself one morning, looking out the window. In my peripheral, I noticed a man sit down. We made eye contact and smiled a greeting. He looked semi-hippie, from the original hippie era. He was this sort of rough-around-the edges guy and seemed a little out of place at the coffee shop. He surprised my assumption of him by pulling out a book to read.

We sat in the same section in silence for awhile until two small children outside caught us by surprise. It seemed they were looking in at us, but after some time watching the situation, it became apparent that a bug on the outside of the window was the focus of their attention. They squealed as they watched the bug, fascinated at its every move.

The man turned to me and, speaking for the first time, said, "Is that beauty, still within us?"

I smiled at him and thought on that line for a long time.