Little Boy: Excuse me, I happened to be passing and I thought you might like some coffee. Litte Girl: Oh, that's very nice of you. Thank you. Oh, won't you sit down? Little Boy: Oh thank you. Cream? Little Girl: No thank you, I take it black . . . like my men. - Most awesome “friend zone” in cinema history- Airplane
Costa Coffee, despite being somewhat
overpriced, has become a global phenomenon. After the opening of
their first shop in London in 1978, the founders Sergio and Bruno
Costa got a foothold in the market and their business blossomed
worldwide. The pair now have 1900 stores across the world.
Writers Connect, a creative writing
meetup I attend, is held in Manchester Arndale's Costa Coffee in
Waterstones. The walls of the coffee shop are adourned with vintage
photographs depicting the coffee chain's humble origins. We used
these pictures as a prompt for a recent warm-up exercise.
Choosing this picture,
I assumed that Gino and Genarro were
the two founders who created the now household-name brand of coffee
shops. Apparently not. But I didn't know that when I wrote this
poem...
The metal churns and readies the mix
an Italian factory in seventy-six
the coffee beans poured, rich and
heavy
in the metal churner, basic,
rudimentary
years of work, of farming the land,
now he holds coffee beans in the palm
of his hand
the sacks are all bean-filled, most of
them man-sized
Gino and Genarro are starting a
franchise
he scoops up a handful, breathes in
the aroma
the photographer flashes, freezing the
moment
these are the beans that will take the
world over,
from New York to Lisbon, Sydney to
Dover.
