Diner Hearts by Benjamin Blake

Waitress smiles as she sets down my coffee
All I can offer in return is a fleeting glance into her eyes
Well received, but hopeless when I bite my tongue

Hunched over a steaming mug
Chipped ceramic stained and off-white
Outside, it’s raining again
Or is it sleet?
I really can’t tell

Young girl smiles as she walks in from the cold
I manage a weak one in return, ghost-like and barely there
She passes by my table and takes a seat in the booth behind
I hear a voice of a man I didn’t know was there

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About the author:

Benjamin Blake was born in the July of 1985, in the small town of Eltham, New Zealand. His fiction and verse have appeared in numerous journals and magazines including, The Los Angeles Review of Los Angeles, Morpheus Tales, Black Petals and Danse Macabre. His debut poetry collection, A Prayer for Late October, was published in 2013. He currently lives in a cabin, somewhere in the New Zealand countryside. Read more of his work (and view his photography) at http://www.benjaminblake.com.

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