Cafe Vibes

Armed with cautious optimism,
I wielded a smile as I advanced,
Armed with a temperature gun,
I yielded – fist raised, smile enhanced,
~
A casual namaste accompanied,
The dollop of pungent sanitizer,
A smile rendered ineffective as,
In vain, went my efforts to hypnotize her,
~
I lined up behind those queued,
Six feet gaps filled with silence,
A cheery tradition made morose,
By an impersonal mask, our reliance,
~
With a frappe enroute, I settled,
Kindle reader in hand to entertain,
But human activity was the flavor,
That I had forgotten to ascertain,
~
I watched as I sipped on insipid liquid,
Every trace of normalcy felt diluted,
A giant ‘X’ on alternate chairs and tables,
New age vibes of a cafe reputed,
~
Paranoia setting in as people walked past,
My anxiety pervaded my 2m bubble,
I shuddered with horror as I did the math,
3 feet too close –  uninvited trouble,
~
I espied a pair of unmasked teenagers,
Shared earphones traversing their 3 feet,
Across them a single mom and her kid,
Chewing on his straw, on the edge of his seat,
~
Each one entranced in their own space,
I paused as the paper straw disintegrated,
Like the teenagers across the café,
To make contact with the glass, I hesitated,
~
I figured I had had the last straw,
My thirst was still unquenched,
Book closed and mind now open,
I felt like furniture in a cafe entrenched,
~
Now noticing what I hadn’t before,
Conversations peppered with a tinge of relief,
Smiles and gestures seemed more genuine,
Had this ellipsis altered some beliefs,
~
Seems like someone wished on a shooting star,
For a world – more acquainted and less apart,
I strolled away from my sanitized brethren,
Forever united by the shared fears in our hearts.