Evening in a Coffee Shop

When I get to be an architect
I’m going to build me a city of
Evening in a coffee shop
And I’m going to put the prettiest buildings in it
Rising from the tiled floor on iron stilts
And melting through the glass of picture windows
I’m going to put some tasteful artwork in it
And the scent of coffee
And the strains of jazz
And green velvet chairs
And the faces of strangers
And amber pendant lights
And the vast black ceiling
Of conversations past
With friends remembered and forgotten
And I’ll put bursts of song
And bleats of hysterical laughter
Stifled for the sake of public decency
Moments of understanding, the mortar
Binding one to one
In that eve of design when I
Get to be an architect
And build evening
In a coffee shop