Observatory Street, Oxford

Waiting here while

Watching Observatory Street
I scan the daily paper
For future news
Of your continued absence.
And, when ordering you
Another morning coffee
I nervously rewind the beauty
Of your final apology,
My inadequate response,
The slam of the door,
A litter of unwritten letters,
The suffocating silence.

Your waiting coffee

Is cold once more,
And, as I order yet another,
Is that you I can see
Hurrying away from
Observatory Street?