Jonathan McKeown

Bird Watching

It is still early and most of the shops in the dim-lit mall are not yet open. I’m standing back, having already placed my order, when a flash of light draws my attention to a young woman waiting to be served at the take-away coffee counter. She has well-tanned shapely legs, framed nicely by her short white shorts, white heeled ankle-boots, and a short-waisted black leather jacket draped about her shoulders. Before I can identify the exact source, it flashes again, then again. She turns slightly, trying to deflect reflections from her screen, and I realise by the waist-height position she is holding her phone, that she is taking shots of her own legs. She spends some time trying to choose the filter she wants before the woman behind the counter says, “Next please.”

blue satin
bringing to the bower
the colour of her eye