She sits in a chair at the table for one
Staring out of the cafe window with distant, gray eyes.
The cup in front of her holds a steaming cafe latte
But she acts like it's not hers.

The girl with the lizard tattoo on her bare arm
(Left that way by the rose-red shirt she wears)
Watches the people walk by, each and every one of them
All of them different, all of them going nowhere.

Her forlorn eyes scan the men in business suits
With their black leather suitcases and their silver watches
All rushing off to an office building
To waste away in a six-by-six cubicle without a view.

She watches the young mothers and the children
The children skipping along the road
Not knowing they'll soon face a dreary world.
And the mothers just praying to any god that this won't happen.

She watches the lovers and the dreamers
And the blue-collar workers on their lunch break
All of them hoping and praying for something better
All of them with something deep inside them left unsatisfied.

There sits the gray-eyed girl with the wild, red hair and the lizard tattoo
Behind a cup of joe she could have sworn she never bought
Contemplating what it's like to be them
To be accepted for who she is, not what's on her arm.

But does she really wish she could be them?
Does she wish to be restrained by life and all things in it?
Is it worth giving up freedom for a six-by-six box in an office
The one without a window to the world?

She smiles and turns her head away from the dingy window.
Her fingers curl around the cup and bring it to her lips.
She takes a long sip, swirling the coffee in her mouth for awhile.
With a gulp, she decides, "Not at all."