At The Coffee Shop(Saturday 2 February 2008, 10am)

Women mostly.  Serious shoppers: arms full of bags already.  Mothers and daughters, both young and old.

A girl catches my eye.  She half-smiles and her eyes hold my gaze for a second as her face turns back to the conversation.

A couple of young guys reading the sports pages.  Nursing hangovers perhaps, while they wait for their partners to finish their shopping?

A tired-looking young couple fondly, jealously, watching their baby as she sleeps serenely in her buggy.

A barista clearing tables.  As he bends over, the curious toddler at the next table reaches from his booster seat and gently touches the proffered buttocks...

                         One coffee shop,

                         one americano -

                         so many stories.

Coffee and Cupcakes in Addis Ababa

From Ethiopian highlands,
Via Ottoman Empire trade,
To Venice and so to England's
Coffee-houses where deals were made.

On to Boston in a slave-ship,
Then over time, across the land.
Seventies Seattle made it hip
And created a global brand.

Today west meets east in China,
Where, now facing wage inflation,
Their thoughts turn west, to Africa,
To outsource negotiation.

Hearing of inward investment
And an African middle-class,
Should be, by any assessment,
Good news when compared to the past.

But surely I can't be alone
In feeling a certain unease,
When I hear "From Our Own
Correspondent”, that downtown, amidst poverty and sleaze,
A red velvet cupcake's the thing to enjoy along with your morning brew,
At least that is, if you can afford the cafés of the privileged few.