The Attic Cafe

Man reading a book, illuminating the pages from a glow in his chest.  Beats headphones round his neck, vapourizer in hand and a coffee on the table. Many stimulations. He looks around, distracted by the incomers catching eyes locating free seats. A location to immerse in conversation. He puts his headphones on again…a one-man island.

A traveller arrives.

The man with the book feels a buzz in his lap. He looks at the message on his lock screen and shakes his head with a hint of irritance on his face. Feet tapping. Head bobbing. Good tune.

Coffee shops. An escape from the cold.   A place to rest for a bus driver until his next shift begins. A backpacker well wrapped, remains warm and comfortable, resting before the next leg of his journey.

A hum of voices fill the attic space. The breath of long-forgotten strangers drip down the paneled windows. Coffee breath. Hot chocolate breath. Breath from foreign lands. Breath shared between all living things. Breath of a thousand breaths.

The breath of a first breath. A last breath. We breathe the same breath. One breath. The earth’s breath.

The forest, the lungs. We are receivers of the earth’s life source.  We breathe the breath of our ancestors. Of an age only remembered through stories.

We breathe the same breath as the man selling baked potatoes for a living. The same breath as the pigeon perching on the branches, recuperating from a long flight over the city scavenging food that we mindlessly dispose of.

Of the known 8.7 million species in the natural world, we all share one commonality. Connection to all things on earth. Earth is our life and death. Earth is our home. It is our shelter. Our nourishment. Our safety. Our exploration. Our knowledge. Our wisdom. It is our teacher. It is here waiting for us to listen.