Cafe Vienna

Statues press their mouths to the rims of coffee cups in the capital of Austria.Vines curl up wooden beams in a nearby cafe.

Smokey scents of vanilla swirl through the air. Sweetness caresses the faces of the customers. Soft exhales drift upwards and mix with the clouds.

I wonder what kind of drink it is? “Let’s order one,” she says.

Cream floats on coffee brown as my lover's hair.

So she doesn't drown her immune system, I take the cream for her, scooping it onto a silver teaspoon. Melting on my tongue: milk and cocoa.

She drinks the coffee, stirring in a cosmos of sugar crystals. We sit side by side, imaging the city our drink knows. Silver spoons clink against ceramic cups, just as they do in the capital. Hands brush, two tongues taste one drink.

What of Vienna? Unfamiliar place, we imagine that

your mother is proud of you.

Viennese coffee, cafe Vienna, child of Austria: Five dollars ninety nine.

Learning how she likes her coffee: foolishly, free of charge.

— Jade Wilson, Kaiapoi High School