Cozy Is The Place Where Coffee And Poetry Collide

Do you ever find yourself longing for moments of quiet, moments of calm, cozy, peacefulness in the midst of a crazy schedule or hectic life?

We all have never-ending to-do lists. We all have duties and responsibilities that seem to pull us in multiple directions.

But, why does it take moments where we internally scream “ah, I need a break,” for us to actually recognize the need to slow down?

Most of us love our morning mugs of coffee for this very reason.

Even if only for a few moments at the start of each day, a coffee routine presents us with a calm, cozy, peacefulness our hearts and minds long for.

So then, may I submit to you that we should regularly extend those quiet moments, turning them into one or two peaceful hours spent with nothing more than a mug filled with your favorite brew and a good book.

Maybe these moments are spent curled up in your favorite chair? Or, maybe you’re pouring over line after poetic line while sipping cold brew at your local coffee house?

No matter the location, what could you do with, or what would come of such a pause?

Maybe this is rooted in a longing for the return of peace, coziness, calm, and in reality - time.

But, think with me for these next few moments…

What awaits your mind, body, and spirit within a few moments or hours of rest beneath the pages of poetry, accompanied by slow, warm sips of your favorite brew?

A desire for peace and calm is the vehicle, coffee is the cozy fuel, and literature, or poetry, can be the practical and creative expression of the overarching, grand human desire for moments of peace.

I know, this is beginning to sound a little too euphoric…or is it?

Today we’d like to explore a world where coffee and poetry collide, a world where we can join others in immersing ourselves in between and under pages and sips, a cozy world where worries fade and troubles melt, even if only for a few hours.

Cozy Is A Place Where Coffee And Poetry Collide

Reading and writing in cafes or coffee houses is such a common thing that it’s considered tradition in some parts of the world.

Many writers throughout history have enjoyed this medium, finding it to provide a peaceful, cozy atmosphere conducive to free-flowing thought.
What is it about these types of places that paints such a calm backdrop for the mind?

Could it be the coffee?

As much as we enjoy this brew for its energy-giving, awakening qualities, isn’t it amazing that the same beverage can equally bring such a strong sense of calm?

It’s fascinating to me, really.

It’s been said that coffee houses are perfect for spending hours between the pages of a book because the java keeps one awake enough to not drift off in such a cozy environment, while simultaneously creating a sense of warmth, peace, and calm.

In the past, many great minds used cafes as meeting places to discuss progressive business ideologies, politics, and religion, with coffee providing fuel for both thought and discussion.

So, it shouldn’t be surprising that writers, for centuries, have found such locales conducive to the quiet kind of thought required for penning impressive works.

Even some of today’s writers, like JK Rowling, have joined the ranks of those before (such as TS Elliot and F Scott Fitzgerald), spending hour after hour in local cafes writing, writing, writing.

It’s amazing to think that on one hand some of the greatest writers in history may have penned their works in cafes, then as that hand turns, many of us are now reading these works in similar cozy cafe corners, the bold aroma of coffee wafting through the air, even rising from the mugs warming our collective hands as we get lost between the lines of their works.

“The marble-topped tables, the smell of cafe creams, the smell of early morning sweeping out and mopping and luck were all you needed.” - Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

(Hemingway wrote much of his memoir at a cafe near his apartment. “He would arrive with notebooks, pencils, and a pencil sharpener and spend his mornings working and people watching.”)

And, it is nothing shy of poetic, in my opinion, that readers so often enjoy the same backdrops for absorbing the thoughts once formed in an equally cozy, coffee-fueled setting.

In a quiet corner, TS Eliot writes -

“The morning comes to consciousness,
Of faint stale smells of beer,
From the sawdust-trampled street,
With all its muddy feet that press,
To early coffee-stands…”

In a quiet corner, I read -

“...With other masquerades,
That time resumes,
One thinks of all the hands,
That are raising dingy shades,
In a thousand furnished rooms.”

- both excerpts from TS Eliot’s Preludes (II)

For a moment, I am led to believe that this…atmosphere…must be the completing component, alongside coffee, that creates the cozy moments we crave.

But then, I also can’t help but recall times when print (poetry) and coffee alone served to actually create the cozy atmosphere often sought by so many.

Let me explain…

Have Coffee And Poetry, Will Cozy

I know, I know “will cozy” isn’t exactly poetic, or grammatically correct, but I have a feeling many of you will be able to relate.

I’ve always thought of cozy moments as those constrained to the descriptions listed in our intro today - under a warm blanket, in the corner chair at a local cafe - but I’m finding that such peace can truly be found anywhere.

It’s kind of like the age old “have something will travel” adage (thus the subtitle above).

You see, last week I had to have some work done on my vehicle.

I’m sitting in the waiting room of the mechanic’s shop. The sign before me read, “Rick’s Towing: you stall ‘em, we haul ‘em.”

I wouldn’t exactly expect a cafe vibe here, nor would I typically think this to be a “curl up with a thought-provoking book of poetry” type of place…and yet, it was!

It was really quiet there, and the shop owner’s wife had just brewed a fresh pot of coffee for those of us waiting.

The familiar, fragrant aroma of freshly brewed bean wafted through the air, colliding with the warm morning light that poured through the nearby window.

The gentleman sitting next to me unfolded the newspaper that had been resting under his arm. He’d just made his way back from the small table nestled in the corner of the room, chipped ceramic coffee mug in hand, filled to the brim.

As he sat quietly, reading and sipping, I looked down, and thought, here I am doing the same. My homemade cold brew in one hand, a thick collection of short stories in the other hand.

Each of us immersed in the print before us and the brews between us.

That’s when I really began to think of the words, I shared with you in the intro…I believe it is necessary, especially in this fast-paced world we all find ourselves living in, for slow sips and print.

And you know what…that can take place just about anywhere!

So often we attempt to stage things in our lives, as opposed to allowing precious, cozy moments to happen organically.

My advice for myself, and each and every one of us? Let’s all try to slow down a bit.

And really, that’s what coffee and poetry give to readers and sippers alike.

Maybe you have the setting and time for specificity, for intention. And, in such a scenario, you have planned time to yourself.

The air is cool, perhaps there's drizzling rain just outside the window.

The warm glow of candlelight shines nearby, and as you sit comfortably in your large, soft, chair, you randomly feel a smile form across your face as your glance moves between the lines of poetry before you and the warm steam visibly wafting up from your mug of coffee resting between your palm and fingertips.

Or, maybe time and a bit of planning led you to your favorite cafe, the quaint one just a few blocks from your house.

You just settled in at a table for two, your mind already engrossed “...What ails you, child, what ails you, for God’s sake?” Urgent, sorrowing, ails, far-off and old.”

Seamus Heaney’s Electric Light words are interrupted briefly as the barista calls out your name, signaling your brew is ready.

These scenes are serene, idyllic even, but as my mechanic waiting room story has taught me, waiting for perfection can allow such wonderful, cozy moments to go by without needed, appropriate recognition and gratitude.

My point?

If you can plan an idyllic setting for your cozy coffee and poetry (or print) moments, then absolutely do so, as setting the stage can go a long way to achieving the calm we seek in such times.

However, if all you have is a book and a filled mug, settle in, friends, because that’s a recipe for peace!

“Imagine all the people, living life in peace…” - Imagine, John Lennon (it has been said that song lyrics are some of the world’s best poetry)

“Look how white everything is, how quiet, how snowed-in. I am learning peacefulness, lying by myself quietly…” - Tulips, Sylvia Plath

Even what most perceive as grim, can echo tales much deeper when absorbed in between warm sips and quiet moments:

“Presently my soul grew stronger, hesitating then no longer,
“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That scarce I was sure I heard you” - here I opened wide the door; -
Darkness there and nothing more.” - The Raven, Edgar Allen Poe

Sometimes such quiet and cozy moments spent sipping coffee while immersed in the pages of poetry can bring joy, helping us relish in the wonderful moments of life…

“...Pleasant summer over, and all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes, the gray smoke towers.

Sing a song of seasons, something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer, fires in the fall.”

- Autumn Fires, Robert Louis Stevenson

Sometimes these same moments can unearth grief, tears, and pain, our bodies begging to be unburdened by their heavy weight.

“But how do we let go without falling apart - without crumbling from loosening our grip on what was and what could have been.” - Loss, Alex Elle

And, sometimes minutes or hours spent in peaceful reading of print, can awaken or renew vigor and promise within us, readying us to take on challenges, coffee in hand and a heart full of encouragement.

“...Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the road less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

- The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost

Now, allow me to close with a thought I shared at the beginning of our cozy discussion today:

A desire for peace and calm is the vehicle, coffee is the cozy fuel, and literature, or poetry, can be the practical and creative expression of the overarching, grand human desire for moments of peace.

So, friends, it is our hope that you will…

• intentionally carve out some time
• grab a book filled with thought-provoking, mind-releasing, peace-filled poetry
• find a cafe, corner, comfy chair, or even a mechanic’s waiting room
• brew a cup of your favorite coffee, prepared just the way you like it

…and simply enjoy some peaceful, cozy moments - moments where coffee and poetry collide.

Check out Lifeboost Coffee Grata Medium Roast .

References:

https://www.storey-lines.com/2015/09/14/why-do-writers-love-to-write-in-coffee-shops/

https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195104301.001.0001/acref-9780195104301-e-137#

https://magazine.coffee/blog/1/5370/writers-who-did-their-best-work-in-cafes

https://www.blueridgejournal.com/poems/sh-elect.htm