First, it helps to be in Rome,
standing at a marble counter
with a fresh brewed espresso,
a framed black and white
of Sophia Loren
staring at you
to add a voluptuous note.
☕️ ☕️ ☕️
Or maybe Paris in the fall,
walking through the Louvre
until exhaustion by portrait
and landscape confounds you.
Then, on to Angeline’s
for refreshment,
the waiter setting
a chilled bottle of Perrier
at the corner table
reserved for you
and your ardent lover.
💋 💋 💋
Perhaps the Neue Gallery
on 86th and Fifth,
fashioned precisely
after a Viennese coffeehouse,
your cup and saucer
set on pressed white linen,
accompanied by a tray of tarts
and other small confections,
not quite ready to drink or eat
until divinely paired.
🥮 🥮 🥮
All exude a continental atmosphere, even if on New York’s “Museum Mile.” Parking for Vespas is a plus.
Ah yes, the “Continent.”
A great coffee shop is the degree of difference between how you felt going in and how you feel coming out.
Yes Sherry, this is so right. Alas, life not always perfect . . . .
You are exactly right about the Neue Gallery, devoted to German Expressionism. But its location is just off Fifth Avenue on 85th Street, not 91st. I never tried their coffee shop because it is very pricey, but their exhibits are marvelous!
Davida, thank you for reading my poetry and sharing your impressions of Neue Gallery. I did edit the poem to include the correct address, which according to their website is 86th and Fifth.
Beautiful writing
Thank you Anne, as always.
Barrie, this gave me a whole new way of thinking about and appreciating coffee shops – I’ll never think of them in the same way again!
Thank you Mary for your supreme compliment. We are way beyond Starbucks!