in beatween
After midnight the diner keeps its steady hum,
a few tables scattered with travellers
tracing their own routes through the quiet.
A server wipes down the counter in slow arcs,
steam rising from a cup left cooling near the register,
the door’s small bell giving a soft ring
each time someone steps in from the road.
You sit near the window,
watching headlights drift along the highway,
each one carrying a story you don’t need to follow
to feel the weight of its passing.
Nothing grand unfolds,
yet the hour feels tuned
to a kind of low-grade wonder,
the sort that settles in
when the world thins out
each departure a muted exhale
a small vacancy that neon can't steady
each arrival pushing the night
just that further along
.
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Author:
crypticbard (Pseudonym) (
Offline) - Published: May 15th, 2026 05:10
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 12
- Users favorite of this poem: Tristan Robert Lange
- In collections: 2026, reworked dead poets.
Offline)
Comments7
Words from an astute observer. Light, calm, gentle and fluid.
Beautiful piece, Arqios.
Thanks so much, Katie B🙏🏻🕊️
A wonderful portrait of the diner and its occupants. The style is so appropriate for the images here.I can hear the people chatting and "each one carrying a story you don't need to follow.Excellent piece comrade
Reminds me of small local pubs and Japanese izakayas as well. 🙏🏻🕊️
Cryptic this feels a continuation from your last poem and it feels that I have been there before not exactly in physicality but emotionally and the same setting in a different location. There is an observation here where one looks around oneself and notes all that is passing. The last lines lead me back to metaphor again with the departures and arrivals like one's breathing. Very nice Cryptic
Thanks for sharing that same veinedness my friend🙏🏻🕊️
Most welcome Cryptic
good write my friend, much enjoyed
Thanks dear Norman 🙏🏻🕊️
most welcome my friend
I never seen a poem titled 'In BEATWEEN' before. I see one (or more?) titled 'In between'! lol.
It's not similar to that old thing of the USA losing 'u's, as in humor, color, etc, is it?
Think BEATLES 🤩🙏🏻🕊️
This has a wonderful nocturnal stillness to it. Steam, neon, highway lights, tired travellers, soft bells…it all gathers into that strange reflective mood that only exists after midnight when the world briefly slows enough to notice itself. Beautifully done, my friend. 🌹🖤🙏🕯️🐦⬛🌹🖤🙏🕯️🐦⬛
Double emoji cluster, YAY!🎉 🙌🏻 🥳
The Steady Pulse of daily life. Good Write.
Thanks, Kevin. Steady as we go🙏🕊️
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