coffee shop hospital

its not hard to hear the conversations around me--they are not hidden here. rather, everything is aired out in this environment: that's what it's for. people come here to take their burdens off, to undress just enough to expose some scars to a friend. you wouldnt think this would be an appropriate place--bagels and coffee and uniform square tables with four plastic-seated chairs pushed purposefully into the shape--but it's the only place it seems to happen. something about the aroma of coffee and the invitation to be here as long as you like makes it irresistable. its a cancer ward, "together" people filing in all smiles and fashion and $500 purses and shoes but we all fall apart the same after carefully choosing a seat in a comfortable corner. even the loners hunch against the wall with journals and laptops and gush emotion forth like a broken pipe. the world passes by outside the glass front oblivious to the trauma...and the healing within.