Strange Reminder

Chinatown, narrow and winding alley ways,
History and 21st century intersect, criss-cross
As if woven
A tapestry of sounds and sights (and smells...)

Sounds of ancient instruments
In harmony, plucked, strummed, blown
Fingers boney, mouths wrinkly, eyes weak
As ancient as History
In the shady corner of a park
By the public performance stage
Years of the love of music and commeradery wafting
Following me
Playing with the hem of my skirt and the air on my calves

Sights of skipping children
Young men in mourning black at the door of the funeral house
Someone getting the attention of a white aproned, white hat
Chef
Who sat on the stoop
At the back of a restaurant called Old Shanghai
He smiled, sipping coffee from the paper cup from a nearby
Quasi Western Cafe
Nothing in his features resembled
You
Short, Asian, sailor's windblown sun baked skin
And yet
Instant flash in my mind
Your smile, your 2 minutes of break, masked by cigarette smoke
Somewhere outside the kitchen ...
Where your toil and passion meet
Where perhaps you miss me
Where perhaps you daydeam of me
Where perhaps you hum a tune that you sent me

Seeing this total stranger
On a familiar New York City street
Made me lift the corners of my mouth
Just with the thoughts of you