Red Jacket

You drink your coffee black, hot, unsweetened
Laugh at eighty five decibels, boldly,
Piercingly loud, in a way that turns heads,
Like a woman who's completely unafraid.

Six feet of formal composition, perched
Between pure professionalism,
And impure fantasy: long boots, short skirt,
Red jacket, and an abundance of leg.

I can scarce meet your sunlit amber gaze
And drop my eyes to table/coffee/hands 
But you have a pianist's fingers and my thoughts
Run uncooperatively southwards

Still, I am not tongue-tied with you; we speak
The same language. I find it wonderful:
Your syntax precise, your replies thoughtful,
I perceive the shape and shades of your words.

I want desperately to chip beyond your
Chiselled facade and find what lies beneath.