the coffee queen
in this far north coastal town
she is the coffee queen
to myself that’s what i call her
i think the name of the café
is her first name
although i haven’t confirmed that yet
but am certain i will soon
she runs the café alone
serving customers
making coffees
and delivering to the tables
with a warm smile and words
it’s clear that she has a following
as i've already noticed regulars
and her coffees are excellent
which is not always the way around here
the two days before finding her cafe
i'd had bad coffee experiences
the horror of a one-shot long black
and the cheek of a small size for six-fifty
my first time in the cafe a few days ago
as i waited at the counter
a guy about my age quietly said
‘such great coffee here’
and i have since said that to others
today she adjusted my table’s legs
concerned my coffee would spill
with the table shaking on uneven ground
when i left her café
she called ‘how was your coffee’
i replied ‘it is the best coffee in town’
and she smiled with a knowing pride
i saw other customers smiling too
also knowing
what i had said of her coffee was true
it is the best coffee in town
she is the coffee queen
and i will buy her coffee everyday
as long as i am here
seagull
a seagull spoke to me this morning
as i sat on the end of the jetty
under a shelter alone in the elements
pulling my hoodie and jacket around me
being in winter wind and rain
as sea smashed and sent spray into air
the bird landed and looked into my eyes
and with a squawk offered me a message
i'm not pretending i understand gull language
or that i possess a superhuman trait
but the sound voiced clear made sense to me
before creature rose and circled in sky
and i didn’t need to analyse what was shared
or ponder on some complex meaning
as the ocean danced its stormy rhythm
what i had heard was completely evident
i looked out to the crashing grey-green waves
and went deep into what i was feeling
and then i walked in the weather back to shore
holding the gift the seagull had given
rising
it was what i needed
in this moment now
dawn sunlight
rising behind tree
lifting me up
from a dark valley
of happy drowning
in wash of bad news
and i held on
with heartfelt gratitude
to the kind morning glow
accepted light
being offered to me
let go of questions
doubt
worry and fear
when a grey cloud
drifted over the shine
i took that as a message
about obstacles
how they arise in life
and always will
so accept them
and not plummet down
after a moment
the cloud
gave way to sun
and once more
i relished the golden
and saw how fast changes can occur
both to sky
and the human journey
Stephen House has won many awards and nominations as a poet, playwright, and actor. He’s been commissioned often, with 20 plays produced, and many published by Australian Plays Transform. He’s received international literature residencies from The Australia Council for the Arts to Canada and Ireland, and an Asialink literature residency to India. He’s had two chapbooks published by ICOE Press Australia: ‘real and unreal’ poetry and ‘The Ajoona Guest House’ monologue. His poetry is published often. He has performed his acclaimed monologues, ‘Appalling Behaviour’, ‘Almost Face to Face’ and ‘The Ajoona Guest House’ widely. His play, ‘Johnny Chico’ ran in Spain for 4 years.
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