Across from the table,
You look different somehow.
Your hand around
your coffee cup;
Your ring glittered
in the sunlight,
seeping through
the window.
Heart hopping—
they wouldn't stop.

And I flipped 'Ariel'
at the table.
Your head tilting,
leaning on your hand.
My fingers closed,
You unlock them
right in front of you;
You're still able.

Fingers clasped together,
And I wondered about
the taste of the sweets
on our table on your lips.
I hear only your voice
in this space
full of strangers,
you're the whisper.
Your eyes are a reader,
speaking love language.

But I couldn't feel you
like a phantom;
A...