Poem of the Month
Here and Now in a Local Coffee-Shop
On my living room screen
I have yet again been watching tragicomedy
on a battered world stage
and I escape in desperate need of something other.
It is time for coffee
in my favourite not far from the shore place
and there a happy gathering
of mums and babies and cuddles and chat and smiles.
Am I the only one
who now and then gets that peace and love
out of nowhere feeling
that drifts in like a shifting March afternoon wind?
Not long ago
I was immersed in death and destruction
with news ever-full of more
from Ukraine, Sudan, Iran and the so-called Holy-Land
so we have new orphans
and many more going in fear again to their meagre beds
with tears and empty bellies
listening for the drones or the intruders’ footsteps.
Yet here there is joy
in communal warmth with the cookies and cake
where a little girl smiles
and a toddling toddler grasps my fingers in his …
and I enjoy the moment
with for a while the blessing of guiltless distraction
and the slow realization
that other concerns must not devalue the here and now.