A Cup of Coffee and Few Kind Words

I sat with you at a table in Capoliveri

The poet with a beard, walked slowly up the cobblestone path

He carried a tattered black case, a paint brush and a cup

He came towards me and offered me a stack of paintings

He smiled and turned away

I looked upon the sketches in awe

Streets and lines fading in the distance

The painter sat quietly at a table and pulled out a blank canvas

He dipped his brush into the cup

A cup, half-full of left-over crema and dark espresso

He swirled the ochre liquid onto the white canvas

He outlined a building and sketched a checkered tablecloth

The shutters of the window opened wide to the summer air

A sign on a wall points to a direction – “Il Chiasso” 30mt.

I waited in anticipation

The painter had nearly finished

But, one last touch before he signed his name

« Ci elieto,nei nostril silenzi,la luce del cuore «

or

“Being quiet and still with oneself brings light to the heart”

(For someone special, who brings light to my heart, on his Birthday)

© 2013 Ann Ivy Male