The Riveting Rummage

"Oh, what a little gem!" TF mutters to herself as she places a one pound coin on the glass counter in payment of the wee little gem. The old lady in the charity shop with bulging eyes smiles as she hands over the wrapped purchase and receipt. So what did TF get for her quid? A hand knitted purple tea cosy? A used pair of false teeth? A bundle of blunt knitting needles? No! Better than that, much better. It was a ruddy bargain in my book. Yes folks, it was a book (indirectly)! Not a Dickens first edition or a bumper bundle of Dandy comics. No! It was a quirky publication (and you know how I just love quirky stuff) that contains poems, short stories and BEST OF ALL pictures. The publication is called AMBIT a magazine that thinks it's a book. Have you 'eard of it then? No, are you sure? Its been around for 40+ years. Right, I'm now gonna possibly break copyright rules here but whilst reading the magazine I've now become acquainted with a poet called Donald Gardner. The poem below was cut and pasted from his website. Oh, before you read the poem, go check out the AMBIT website, you can even download a FREE, yes I said FREE backcopy of one of the quarterly magazines. If you feel really brave you can submit a poem or short story for publication! This bit is a quote from their website: 

AMBIT – JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED!

In 1959 a London Paediatrician, Dr Martin Bax, diagnosed Angst and Ennui as the prevailing mood. He prescribed AMBIT: poetry, fiction and art - sometimes shocking, sometimes erotic, sometimes comic, always compelling - plus a small dose of unstuffy poetry reviews.

Right now for that poem. 

MORNING SHIFT

8 am Starbuck’s

Astor Place

the first crop

of office workers shows up

clipped speech at the counter.

as they order

their coffee and Danish

I’m up there with the best of them

but as I turn I glimpse

the street people

as they slide from the benches

where they’ve rested since dawn

one after another

a larval stir

of old stiff overcoats

shuffling outside

at the signal of the first comers

through the swing doors

the whole event

a conversation-stopper

so played out

in absolute silence

but taking

less than a minute

leaving us to enjoy

the heady tang of Jamaican

Blue Mountain coffee

more or less undisturbed

by Donald Gardner

Ahh, sometimes it pays to rummage methinks :)