Three Poems by Stephen House

 

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.