Ten years ago or so I had a crush on a girl at a local coffee shop. No this wasn’t a crush on Abigail, the love of my life that I married almost 8 years ago. It was before Abigail and I were more than just friends. I was painfully shy of talking with strangers, especially cute ones. One afternoon, while at the cafe, I wrote this embarrassingly mushy poem on my computer about that girl. She was a barista at a place called Pop Culture Coffee House that I was at so often I had a regular order and was a “featured” customer in the local paper:
I found this old poem in a box of memorabilia saved from the music festivals I used to go to between 2000-2004 like Cornerstone, Purple Door and Lifest. This poem was in the 2004 issue of Hinge: The Literary Journal of Purple Door. Abigail thought I should share it and so I will, but I can’t help feeling like this about sharing it on my blog. I’ll keep you updated.
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Prettier Than I Remember
a week ago, last tuesday i was there;
i’d ordered a coffee and checked my e-mailthere was a small crowd that evening
the place was full but my heart knew of only onei noticed her that night, just like many nights before,
too alluring to say ‘hi’ to, too classy to take up her time.no more than a few words have passed between us,
it’s been weeks now and i can’t even get her namei tried asking her the once,
but when i saw that pleasing face…
my words got jumbled,
rearranged every syllable
my heart got in the way.
i smiled, blushed and tried again.she smiled as she watched me,
answered my question,
continued to smile.i froze like i had done before.
the perfect moment was there –
just ask her a question,
see if she has time to talk.if i could know what she likes.
i could know if she likes me.i wonder what color her eyes are,
but my heart is overtaken by her beauty.i can’t remember a thing when i’m around her;
she’s prettier than I remember.the coffee girl in three words;
smiling, trendy, amazingit’s been far too long now.
if i ask her, will she say no?
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