Hardly noticed at first
absorbed in coffee and book
then the phlegmy cough intruded
loud, recurrent, unscreened by hand.
I raised my book higher between us.
Elderly. Weathered.
Baseball cap, t-shirt, work shorts.
Laughter. Interjections.
Was he communicating
with wife or friend at the counter?
Followed his gaze. No-one. But …
ah! someone invisible in the other chair.
Met him walking later.
Not so old after all. Maybe 50.
Cross Posted from my 'verse portraits' blog, Impressions You Left, this also does duty as my 2009 April Challenge 6.
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