=Cafe by a tree=

Before you set out on a journey
without a destination in mind,
be sure to someday visit the cafe by a tree.

I have known many a cafe with trees beside
whether in Imbrium, at Hyde park,
or in a far off countryside.

But the cafe I speak of opens solely for
a single tree just outside the window
and for you, just within.

How I stumbled across that cafe
I have since forgotten. Perhaps the tree
or a desire for coffee drew me in.

Beyond the door and its faltering sign,
you'll notice a window and its tree behind,
before a small table and its two chairs beside.

Someone with flowing green hair
will greet you with an excited smile
as if you were the only customer in awhile.

I ordered a cup of coffee but she came
with two cups and a hopeful glance,
slipping into the other chair when I smiled.

Many questions I might have asked
but my mind was tired so
the aroma of fresh coffee sufficed.

Your eyes will turn to stare
at the unfamiliar and spiking tree
awkwardly defiant over the sands.

As I turned back I thought I glimpsed
the tree's wildness in her hair
and the desolate landscape in her eyes.

But she turned back and she smiled,
just like a contented customer in a cafe
where the taste of coffee sufficed.

What was said I have forgotten already
as the sun falls into the grasp of the tree,
leaving shadows across empty cups of coffee.

She'll rise and clear the table.
As you rise to leave that evening,
she'll offer you a bed for the night.

Her bed is small and firm
but the comforter is huge and soft.
She is so nice and warm.

I dream of a giant bird-plane in the sky,
of a thousand streetlamps in the sea,
of her playing a moon-zither in the tree.

Sunrise was the color of honey tea
we shared with that solitary tree,
remnant of an apocalyptic past in time.

With promises of return, you will leave
a shrinking shadow across an empty cafe
by a girl with evergreen swept hair.

My hairs have grayed with moondust,
under the light of a thousand streetlamps,
the moon-zither you strum so gently
dreams of a cafe by a tree.