jane austen & the barista

her heroines are normal girls

modest, demure, ladies all

(excepting lizzie)

sweet, pretty and witty

     no patience for brazen hussies

          and loose women

               has jane

her heroes aren’t all dashing —

country curate?  penniless parson?

proud yet noble gentleman

worth so many pounds and sixpence per annum?

     upon wicked wickhams

          and threatening thorpes

               jane frowns

—

alas and alack,

we can not all be heroes and heroines

from out the pages of yesteryear

—

i sing instead a song

of a girl loquacious yet shy

(a girl too normal to be noticed)

and the black-browed barista boy

     who unknowingly captured her fancy

          and from whom she no longer buys coffee

               (being too embarrassed now to talk to him)

—

such is my sordid song of un-romance

a coffee boy and happenstance

if you choose to stick with jane

     i shall not mind