Here We Are

Here we are, under the chandelier, the filmy lights scintillating,

the square tiles chill beneath our feet.

Under the royal moon with her misty crown we

Dance and mumble incoherent hollow promises

We have emptied our shining vaults of words and small passionate sentences

And we dance on as the luminous hazy music of the band dies off

As the couples leave and the chauffeurs drive

The drinks flatten and the waiter dusts

Tables sit lifeless and still as the light fades and pours thickly onto the gauzy street

Chairs, diner-style, lay tired and familiar, dull

And we dance on as the tiles warm with chalky dawn

Your tie, crouched within the lapels of your coat, is crumpled

My long train has hemmed the grime from the café floor

A lone sheet of music, breadloaf-thick and white, is all that slumps in the dirty corner from that glimmering night

And the door jingles as a customer comes for coffee, ever reminiscent of those brisk sliding tunes.