Drawing upon Reflection

At the cafe
On that particular day
In the downstairs of an afternoon
Redundant hopes
Were loitering behind eyelids
Heavy with thought
(A weight once used to seduce)
And in a smile that wasn't quite.

With idle dreams
Blinding hindsight's view
The relentless stride that paces the distance
Between the Then and the Now
Was all but marking time
In her face.

And if I'd a mirror
That particular day
To reflect the smile that wasn't quite
A makeshift mask
Would have been seen askew
And glimpsed were smudges of history
As if grieving had failed
To fully erase
Some sketches drawn long ago.