Leaf

The perfect cup of coffee
The kind with the leaf
Etched implausibly in the foam
Sits drained at my table
And I almost grieve its passing

Leaving the tiny Cambridge cafe
I pause at the door too long
Protecting this indulgent interlude
As I do each solitary drop
Of fading normalcy

But it's all interlude already
And it's all indulgence
The notion that any moment
Can be seized and held
Is both illusory and arrogant

I follow the highway south
Familiar landmarks sail away
And strange rooms come into view
In buildings that replace the known
With conjectures of destiny

The labyrinth of hospital wings
Navigated confidently
With subconscious efficiency
PET scan films collected
An exit with speed and stealth

Bifurcation and ambivalence
Are the rule of the day
Holding back the passage of time
In one moment
Only to will it on faster in the next