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We need:
A coffeehouse
To: my generation, and the generation above, and the one below.
We are in desperate need of a place for public discussion,
A public forum.
Gradually stripped of our soul, of our right and ability to think,
We take to, and are manipulated by the technologies
At our finger tips.
Social media surely has utility,
Of course it does,
But we are all learning
How to effectively use it in moderation.
We are headed down a dark path,
And have been for a while.
We need conversation,
Real conversation,
Conversation like,
And don’t call me a luddite for this,
Conversation like the old-days
We are in desperate need of a coffeehouse.
No, not a Starbucks or a Dunkin,
A not-for-profit place
To gather,
Phones placed in lockers upon entrance,
Cheap Coffee
Or Tea
Or water,
Whatever you please.
I’ll repeat, cheap.
Tables, lots of them.
A perimeter lined with people
Demonstrating and articulating their cause
And their beliefs;
Opposite them, maybe someone whose convictions
Fall on the other side of the (aisle) room.
Or aspirant artists, promoting their writing
Or painting,
Or voice.
A place with a balcony,
Providing a birds-eye view
For the newcomer, the intimidated
But brave soul
Who wants engagement
And personal betterment.
We all know we need it.
And the youth, we need to rectify
Our mistakes, our excessive consumption,
Of, what a friend so accurately pointed out this evening,
Many of today’s ‘content creators’
Are in fact creating the opposite of real content,
Often stripped of value
And help.
We never seem to learn from our mistakes,
We continuously eat the junk food,
For our heart, tummies, and mind,
Manipulated,
Let’s stand up.
True democracy,
And our humanity,
Dies when we are trapped,
Unable to comfortably express our
Thoughts and opinions,
Our voices.
We all,
At least allegedly,
Had revelations last year.
Bound to our homes, stuck with our thoughts, Within our deepest depths,
We recognized the things we
Need to change,
And many of us made vows that we would.
In the past,
A wake-up call, global pandemics,
Have yielded:
Following the Black Death,
The Renaissance,
And the Spanish Flu
The roaring 20s around the globe.
We need encouragement,
We need to follow up
On our promises,
And follow through
With ourselves.
A coffeehouse.
Like the ones which the British spread
Through their colonies,
But ironically became places
Where such colonies hatched
And supported
Ideas for independence;
Unadulterated, collaborative, productive
Thoughts.
Nowadays it seems
We all strive to return
To the office,
Remembering those days when,
And many have heard this logic by now,
Instead of sending an email,
One would
Run down the hall,
Knock,
Or just open a door,
Bursting with an idea,
A critique,
Some feedback,
Or encouragement.
So then why,
Have we not yet come to our senses,
About the need for true discussion
Out of the workplace?
A coffeehouse,
A place fostering
Our desperate need for thought,
And bravery
To where students,
And adults,
And vendors,
And peddlers,
And all,
All flock,
To share,
To see,
To hear,
To form
Oneself
And
Another.
And off script
This comes to me
Now
That the coffeehouse is actually at
Our fingertips
We just need
To learn
To use it.