Lurching Towards Valentine

This story begins
- and ends -
innocently enough
at Café Central.

A quick look into Demel's
reveals the same scenario
of calm serenity,
gentlemen drinking coffee,
reading the paper.
Unperturbed.

None of these gentlemen
wasted a thought about fairies
hard at work creating
hearts of chocolate.

No one knows
what was on the windmills
of their minds.

These gentlemen
went about their daily routines
and simply missed the signs!
Heart blind.

Even paper birch logs
in a florist's shop
were wearing hearts,
but no one cared.

A heart-shaped wreath
pleaded for attention,
holding tight to a big red bow,
yet no one looked.

"Je t’aime passionnément"
a trio of marzipan hearts cried out,
clinging to a chocolate bar.
And no one listened.

Tragic, this heart blindness,
in a city that once upon a time
was known for the Goldene Wiener Herz
- Viennese hearts supposedly of gold!
All that's left
is a few flecks of gold leaf on top of
50 grams of solid chocolate,
on sale for Euro 4.80!

Hearts for sale
by the paper bag full!
And yet, no takers.

Love and Stories
"Don't you just love it?"
Love what!
"Tiffany's!"
It seems none of these gentlemen
has ever even heard of Holly Golightly.

For all they cared
they would rather have a heisse Wurst
for breakfast,
two blocks away from Tiffany's!

They wouldn't even notice
the flower pots with the little white hearts
right next to their left elbow!

Tired of these heartless souls,
I walked right back to Café Central.
A vase with tulips on the grand piano,
a melange and a moment or two
in perfect solitude
was what I really needed
after all.