The sunlight on the café counter.
Clatter, scrape and second cuppa.
Stainless, Sheffield. Bowl of sugar.
Elbow, knuckle ink, fingered butter.
Gingham vinyl tablecloth.
Spoon song, ketchup, salt and pepper.
Bubble. Double egg and chips.
Love Me Tender, tiny speaker.
The market barker’s comedy –
Same routine since ninety three.
“arfur cue f’fifty pee.”
His mouth is ringed with laughter.
*
nickreeves 
Love this, Nick.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Funny, the things one remembers, isn’t it.
Cheers, Bob!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Nice – don’t forget the tip. Have a great day. Jerry
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ta, Jerry. Cheap at half the price.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The poetry of everyday life! Such beautiful word-music. As for the article, I thought women were doing ok when we got the vote but now we have the chance to become Potato Heads I know we have achieved full equality!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks, Ingrid.
It fell from my potato head almost fully formed. And the news… yay! We can all sleep, er, uneasy now!
Edward (FKA King) x
LikeLiked by 2 people
Chortle. 😀
LikeLiked by 3 people
i used to put my mom’s makeup on PH I guess some one left the Lou Reed album covers out when I was a wee lass 🤔 xoxo
LikeLiked by 1 person
‘..then comes pancake factor number one/
Eyeliner, rose hips and lip gloss, such fun…’
Grady, you are the original Transformer
xo
LikeLike
Master, through no awareness of my own, I assure you xoxoxo
LikeLiked by 1 person
‘Sleepin’ out on the street
Oh, livin’ all alone
Without a house or a home
And then she asked you, please
Hey, baby, can I have some spare change
Oh, can I break your heart?’
You the original wild child, G xoxo
LikeLike
btw is my lipstick ok? lol x
LikeLike
Perfick xoxo
LikeLike
Love the rhythm in this Nick.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, Hobbo. Don’t know why I thought of the caff on Surrey Street market. But it has made me hungry!
“All that mush, pound a pound!”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha I like this. My lips are salivating ..
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love this poem! I think I’ve mentioned before that you are a master of the cataloguing technique in both fiction and poetry. I was instantly transported to that cafe, with all its sights, sounds, and smells. Kudos!!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Liz!
*ticks list*
xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome, Nick! 🙂
LikeLike
great one!
LikeLiked by 1 person
😉 Thanks, KatYa.
LikeLike
love it, thank you! Bubble. Double egg and chips for me please
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is so so awesome! I love it. All of it, but the “gingham vinyl tablecloth” especially was evocative to me. :))
LikeLiked by 1 person
Excellent! So evocative – I love “spoon song”.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Kate! 🙂
LikeLike
It reminded me of being young and hanging out with the buskers and horse-and-carriage guys in Melbourne. There were a couple of little diners we used to go to that had tiny juke-boxes at each table.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Small world! How brilliant 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Superb. Inspirational, Nick
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bless ya, Rick!
Hope all is cool your way.
x
LikeLike
This is awesome! Such effective and economic use of words. Such an atmosphere! Have been trying to figure out the “arfur cue”. I used to know a joke involving supposed latin “alfamo erisago, fortibus esinaro”. But then it turns out to be cockney “‘alf a mo. ‘ere’s a go. Forty buses in a row.” So I’m twisting my tongue around arfur cue but it’s not coming untwisted.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Haha! I like your Latin Cockney – or is it Cockney Latin? – either way it sounds like a cool name for a band. We should form that band!
The Surrey Street market man’s bark was a well rehearsed joke that still rings in my ears to this day. What he’s really saying, waving his cucumber stump in passing faces, is “I’ll fuck you for fifty pee”*.
It was and is doubly amusing to me now because he was such a bent over and bitter character, grubby round the gills, graveyard grin and more than a little creepy, but obviously finding (for twenty years every day) swearing salaciously under cover highly amusing as if he was a comic genius – which, of course, he was!
*pee being pence of course.
Thanks!
LikeLiked by 2 people
that is a character indeed! 😀
LikeLiked by 2 people