Cafe Solo

by Lorna Dee Cervantes

I loved you
 with the scientific
 excuse of the lonely.
 Now I watch the streets
 smog out of focus
 or zoom in brutally
 on the tragically beautiful.
 My eyes have met no one’s
 all morning. I have forgotten
 the purr of my name.
 I remember only the brush
 of my cat’s teeth
 when she tells me
 she loves me. For weeks
 the only lesson I’ve learned
 is that the leaves of the apple
 are finally turning. Everything
 has let go. There are days now
 that go by without a sound.
 I could be anyone.
 Once I was a person
 who loved you.