Cake Crumbs and Coffee Stains

 

Cake Crumbs and Coffee Stains

 

I’m at this cafe table, alone

My notebook page is blank

Except for cake crumbs and coffee stains

 

The cafe venue is not full

Because with the current laws, there’s a Quota

A maximum of only thirty people

 

I feel for the young owners

Trying to run a small business

Under these necessary restrictions

 

There’s the mandatory sign-in and hand sanitising

As the voracious covid’s dirty paws

Attack untethered and unannounced

 

Waiting your turn, is a normal process

Patrons have become more civil and patient

And unbothered I casually scribble these words

Between the cake crumbs and coffee stains

 

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  July 2020

 

 

 

 

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ivor20

G'day, and welcome to my blog site. My name is Ivor Steven, I live in Geelong, Australia. I'm an ex-industrial chemist, and a retired plumber, and a former Carer of my wife(Carole), for 30 years, who suffered from severe MS. I Write poetry about those personal thoughts, throughout and beyond my life as a Carer. I've been blogging for over 2 years, and writing poems for 19 years. Of course a lot of my poems are about my favourite subject Carole, but since I've been blogging my writings have become quite varied, humourous, mystical, observational, and even a few monster/horror poems.

59 thoughts on “Cake Crumbs and Coffee Stains”

  3. I try to support my local places, with carryouts and outdoor visits for now, but I feel for all of them. as for your page, the stains and crumbs are a very telling poem.

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  4. A poem entiled and musing on the topic “Cake crumbs and coffee stains” is bound to bring a smile to all of us 😊. And indeed along with these joys there is sorrow too as the strangeness of how we experience them is so different and tinged with sadness. 😓💛❤🙏

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    1. You’ve summed up my poem perfectly…. there’s snippets of joy, but sympathy and sorrow… life is fairly ‘crumby’ for the cafe owners… one of ‘our’ main socializing venues all around the world…

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      1. Definitely! Here, attempts are being made to open. But the hustle and bustle and the conviviality is absent, yet is their essence. For those who like pubs, the crush at the bar plus chats and laughs are over. Sitting at a distant table having waiting staff service is not a pub.

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      4. Yes, quite a challenge, at 69 I’m in that bracket of basically set in my ways… the mind and body not as flexible as it used to be…. But I think patience is the key, to coping with the pressures of change… 💙🌏🐧🐲🤗

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      1. It’s a busy little venue… While I was there, reluctantly they had to turn people away. Because the Café is dog friendly, lots of walkers drop in… 🐶😊🐕🤗

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    1. Thank you Cheryl, my Cafe (the Box Office Café) is a lovely place for me to relax and write some of my poems. And thank you to the wonderful waitress ‘Alexandra’ for taking the pic’.. she’s a budding writer herself… and loved the original piece/copy of my poem, coffee stain and all..that I gave her . 😊☕🌏💙

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  12. Nice pictures Ivor. Thank you for sharing your experience with us. It especially makes sense because I understand everything you say from here, and if we ever doubted that we were all connected globally, then look no further than covid.

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  15. Beautifully highlighted the plight of small scale businesses. I try to support the local cafes and people around me by take outs, I’m right now out of Connecticut in Dubai for my work, situation here is contained and everything is now open. Hopefully it remains so. Hope you enjoyed your coffee and cake 🙂

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      3. Ivor we will get used to the new normal also. We will adapt in no time, after quarantine it took some time for me to venture I got used to staying in 🤪

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  18. Aw, what a comfy cozy place to cake, coffee, chat, and compose!!! 🙂
    Your notebook sounds well loved and well used in good ways! 🙂
    We always try to support the local businesses (that are not “chain” stores or restaurants, etc.). 🙂
    You brighten that place with your smile, Ivor! 🙂
    HUGS!!! 🙂

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    1. The young waitress took the photo for me… and she’s a budding writer herself.. Alexandra, and I gave her the coffee stained original poem from my notebook, she was ecstatic, and I was smiling… Isn’t wonderful to make a person happy…. 😁☺💙🌏

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      1. Aw!!! Yes, it is most wonderful! How sweet of you! 🙂 I know you will continue to be an encouragement to her as she pursues writing! 🙂
        If I was her…I’d frame your poem and put it up on my wall to bring me joy AND inspire me! 🙂

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      2. She couldn’t wait to get home and show her mum… She had already shown the kitchen staff at the cafe…. Of course I’ll never forget her name, and she likes to called Alex….. If a big smile has something to do with success, she’s already there.. She’s studying to become a ‘Childcare worker’….
        😊💙🌏🙄

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