Arrival

I’ve seen that couple before.
Mid-seventies, I’d say, trim and gray,
arrived here from a good life. 
They give off that we know
what we’re doing vibe, that sense
of a fine journey behind them
full of kids and grandkids, 
dinner parties on the patio,
summers in the south of France,
and some very skillful navigation
through all kinds of weather
that got them here safely,
a little flyblown, it must be said,
but that’s the seventies for you.
One day he said to her,
There’s this nice little café.
Good coffee. The toasted bagel
with cream cheese is outstanding.
It’s about half-a-century from here.
Why don’t we go there together
and I’ll read the Times, and you
can kind of gaze off dreamily
at the people passing by
with your fabulous dreamy gaze,
now and then taking a sip 
of your cappuccino. OK, 
she said.