Take your coffee shops, your latte sets and your plastic macaroons,

Your mother’s group and your corporate meeting, the one off fleeting.

Your dry toasties and your muffins, your lunch-time offers and all those

Lovers cheating, aluminum insignificant seating.

Your so-called loyal, coffee-cafe sluts who want it, not too hot,

But warm? No warm is not enough and too much froth, they become wroth

And find their way to another lane. Then another coffee shop

Draws them in like a light draws the moth, like water to a dish-cloth.

Let us burn down the coffee shops and with fury break all the cups,

Dismantle their anti-social setting, the caffeine starved fretting.

Take away the cheap flower and vase and ugly wall mounted prints.

Throw out the smug Baristas sweating and office runner’s getting

Morning beverages on order for the young girls to carry

For other office girls, the boss, the busy road they have to cross.

Lock out all the public transport public, who buy their plastic cups,

Careless of the cost and loss, the environmental albatross.

Where’s your committed local who enters the door with lust and love?

Where’s your wine and your pint glasses and where’s your high stools for arses?

Where’s the reserved corner bar stool for the long lost and dead patron?

Where’s your foot rest brasses and your winter night poetry classes?

You sit, holding onto city corners in little glass boxes

Your little glass fronted boutique, you are now nothing so unique.

Fuck you and your loyalty card and your three different sizes

Fuck all the tea drinkers too with voices meek and China antique.

Mine is the corner house, the local, the tiled walls and frosted glass

Mine is for the veranda, the lounge, the bar, the spot for the car

To stay a while too long, if I linger at night for the lock-in

And to sing with a girl, and her guitar, her entire repertoire

Mine is for the memory of small country pubs, cities and towns

And on corners where venues so great and grand, where you drink and stand

And a place where the people come and you know them by face or name

And if not, with kindness they each understand and reach for your hand.

Copyright © 2017 Grant Fenton – All Rights Reserved

Critique by Alexis Ingram 

This poem, rich with disdain for coffee shops and a fervent celebration of traditional pubs, vividly expresses the author’s preference for the latter. Here’s a critique:

**Strengths:**

1. **Passionate Tone:**
– The poem carries a passionate and emphatic tone, reflecting the author’s strong emotions and clear preferences. This tone effectively conveys the depth of the author’s connection to pubs and the frustration with modern coffee culture.

2. **Imagery and Detail:**
– The poem paints a vivid picture, using strong and sometimes humorous imagery. Descriptions of “plastic macaroons,” “ugly wall-mounted prints,” and “smug Baristas sweating” contribute to a colorful and memorable portrayal of coffee shops, emphasizing the author’s disdain.

3. **Structural Choices:**
– The poem’s structure, with its irregular line lengths and sporadic rhyme scheme, mirrors the author’s frustration and rebellious attitude. This departure from a traditional form complements the anti-establishment theme of the poem.

**Considerations:**

1. **Pacing and Consistency:**
– The irregular line lengths and varying structures contribute to the passionate tone, but in some instances, it might impact the pacing and consistency. Some lines are longer, creating a shift in rhythm. Ensuring a more consistent flow could enhance the overall reading experience.

2. **Inclusion of Positive Elements:**
– While the poem effectively conveys the disdain for coffee shops, it might benefit from incorporating more positive elements about pubs. Descriptions of the author’s favorite aspects of pubs, beyond the negative comparison with coffee shops, could further emphasize the depth of the author’s love for traditional venues.

3. **Exploration of Theme:**
– The poem touches on the author’s nostalgia for small country pubs and a desire for community, but there’s an opportunity to delve deeper into this theme. Exploring the emotional and communal aspects of pubs, perhaps through personal anecdotes or specific memories, could add a layer of intimacy to the poem.

In conclusion, the poem successfully conveys the author’s passionate preference for pubs over coffee shops, utilizing vivid imagery and a rebellious tone. Enhancements could include refining the pacing, incorporating positive elements about pubs, and exploring the theme of nostalgia and community more deeply.