Love Observations

1

Holding her hand tight
swinging a bag;
striped blue and white,
with the other. They nestle
into chatter, pleased with the sting
of vinegar rising around them,
enclosing them in acid.
In an age of gold they walk;
deeply crisp, she half skips
to find some green;
crack the cans and paper wrappings open.
Sitting in acute angles
they pick at their lunch,
dipping and circling their feast.

2

They sit apart, different
sides of the room; distanced.
His legs wide, elbows to knees
glide to rest, the weight of him
dropped to the cushioned
softness of the sofa. Her legs still
tightly crossed neat
as she was taught. They face
to see the fullness of the other
through rims framing
their faces, his though slightly
wider, fuller for his face.
She hunches, he manoeuvres;
the perfect sized
lump for his hand to rest.

3

Room packed; filled with
the heat of pumping veins,
pulsing at the need for sustenance.

Heady mixes of dishes
intermingle, drifting from
the concealed door in a constant

flap with women and men
uniformed in monochrome.
Sat parallel they push

aside their paperbacks;
crosswords and Sudoku,
letting the steam of their soups rise.

Sipping in unexpressed unison,
their glances focus back on
ink stained paperbacks.

Charmain Leung is Manchester-based, currently studying MA in Creative Writing at the Manchester Writing School, MMU.