Notes from a Miami Beach Café

Time moves quickly,

things change often,

some moments stay exactly the same –

as if suspended in a frame,

weightlessly displayed in my memory:

Like un cafecito y facturas en Manolo,

una charlita con Marian,

the 73rd Street beach access,

las banderas argentinas,

the ebb and flow of Spanish, English, Spanglish,

grocery shopping at M+L food market,

the corner North Beach library,

the smell… what is it about that distinct smell?

the humidity (oh, the humidity),

the walking and talking along Lincoln Road

the very Miami palm trees, the only-in-Miami accent,

the slap-slap-slap of chancletas,

the smell of sunscreen,

the notion of home.

The familiar, the long-forgotten,

the moments that emerge from the sand,

creep up from the sidewalks –

each a cellular imprint,

a story penned in the depths of my heart.

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Penned June 5 2026, 8:18 a.m., Cachito, Miami Beach