Contributor: Linda Barrett

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The ring of the door chimes sing:
“You are welcome here!”
The black and gold Chinese characters
On the wall
Advertise gold and tea
The cafe’s warmth rises from its seat
To reach out to embrace you.
Stacked magazines
And coffee table picture books
Await for you to read them
Otis’s paintings hang on the walls
As family members awaiting
To be adopted.
The Beatles show themselves off
In oil and canvas snapshots
Of how they grew from Liverpool lads
To long-haired and bearded adults.
Coat hangers hold clothes
Made for human consumption
Yin and Otis will let you use WiFi for free
As long as you don’t make too much noise
They give you your coffee and sweets
All the while conversing with you
About what’s going on in your life
They tell you stories about everything
And even about themselves
It’s a living room place
Where no one has to be reserved
And mind their manners
Music of all kinds plays in various forms
From all centuries and cultures
When the store closes around ten,
Yin brown paper wraps up left overs
For you to take home
The door chimes sing “Good-Bye”
And have a nice evening
Because you are not just a customer
But a part of the family.


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Linda Barrett has been writing all her life. Her first written work was a medieval romance handwritten and put in her elementary school's library. She lives with her mother in a small town outside of Philadelphia.