Used Book Shop Coffee

There is this bookshop in Belfast
That I go to sometimes
Especially when I don’t want
To be found
I sit in the back
Where the coffee shop is
Just a few old tables
A few game boards
A few pictures on the wall
Done by local artists that
Probably gave the store the
Picture for a cup of coffee
Be worth a million when they die
Now it’s only worth a cup of coffee
I don’t know about that though
The crazy old woman that runs
This place has no problem
Giving out free refills
Letting you pick the used books
Off the shelves, read them
Put them back and have another coffee.
She smokes thin long cigars
Coughs up a storm with every puff.
There were a couple of artist types
Sitting out in front on the patio
Discussing who was the better artist
They probably had to do a painting
For the old woman
So they could get a cup of coffee
Could even be that they get a few coffees
Every time they come in
But they might some of the soup
That is cooking on a hotplate
By the coffee machine
Great coffee though
I can’t get enough of it
But the soup is good too
I think in was potato and leek today
Could smell it before I even made it into
The store.
I bought a book there the other day
And it smelt like the soup
Some kind of split pea
I think
Couldn’t believe how hungry
It made me
Feel.