on water

the café courtyard fills
with a bubbling babble
young women’s voices
lap against flint walls
ripple against leaded windows
a counter-tone runs deeper
filling dark pools 
sentences break against each other
eddies and little whirlpools
of sonorous speeches
spiral in the flow
a spray of laughter
splashes from a corner couple
a sparrow hops beneath the tables
adding its own tuppence-worth
to the stream’s swirl

~

n.b. Café courtyards are beautiful places where you can hear everything and nothing at once.

CLP 23/07/2024