She caught my eye

And I think I caught hers

I know I did, I’m just afraid to say it

She smiled slightly

Which surprised me

I wasn’t expecting it this morning

Not with the sunshine

And the suburbanites

And the type of people

Here at this type of place

You know these people

Baristas and google employees and old, beautiful jews

She was somewhere in the middle of all of those

Jewish maybe,

Her hair was dark and curly.

Looked freshly washed

Works in tech almost certainly, at a startup maybe

She helps bloggers do SEO or SEM or 

And we laugh about it at a very dark sushi bar

Every Wednesday night

Maybe she was a barista when she first arrived

You know, years ago – probably six – which means she is From Here now

Colorado is where her mother and father do well for themselves

They’ve made sure she does well for herself

But she’s made sure it feels like she’s done it

She tells me about the tough times when she first moved Out Here

And I am pleased at how my small fingers grip the bamboo chopsticks 

There’s a very haggard, soiled man underneath a layer of rags and bags

He is yelling at me now

No, now he is yelling at Marshall

To - Get Over Here Now

And help him move his chair

It has two wheels and two what-once-were tennis balls

The girl bounces from the café

I am quite surprised she did not bring her own cup

Paper means she doesn’t know better

Paper is what her mother drinks from

But you are From Here, dear

And her hair bounces down her back and the summer dress she can never wear is bright and cotton