Arrivals And Departures Poem by Laurence Overmire

Damn, the coffee tasted good
Sitting in the airport
So relaxed, slow breath in, breathe out
Steady, quiet rhythm
Some kind of resignation had morphined its way
Into my face and arms and legs
All the stress, the headache
Gone.

I didn't know what was to come
And in that moment I didn't really care
Nothing seemed to matter except the soothing warmth
...of that coffee
Cupped in my hands like some reverent libation
To the gods.

The cold, gray Minneapolis sky should have portended
The days ahead
I wouldn't believe it, not then
When coffee tasted - and smelled - so good
How could we be so trifling in our affairs
To let the best of life slip away
...so easily
No. Not now.

But I was wrong.
The plane pulled up to the gate
People laughing, smiling, hugging their loved ones
But as she came toward me
The look in her eyes
I knew.


(Previously published in Some Words: A Place For Poetry, Feb 2000)