Lament for that Chorlton coffee shop ………

So farewell Costa Coffee,

I knew you only a little

But this is how I remember you.

Full of coffee customers,

Drinking a bewildering range of beverages,

With the option of taking in the sun

And watching Chorlton pass by

At a table on the highway.

But now you are closed.

And gone as surely

As that dry cleaning place that preceded you.

The new gigantic plan which has eliminated 

Half a century of retail adventures

For a residential estate with just a few shops

Has met with mixed responses.

I wonder if you will return or cede your place to Café Nero

And all the small independent coffee emporiums

When that grand plan with its high rise

Offer of life in the sky is fulfilled?

I discovered your absence only today,

On a coolish grey day when the sun failed to arrive.

All of which seems appropriate 

With your empty premise

Occupied by just a mystery shovel

And the customer waiting for you to open.

P.S. Your detractors will no doubt

Revel in your demise.

But I wonder if their celebrations will

Extend to a double latte in Cafe Nero

Or a bacon butty in one of the independents? 

We shall see.

Location; Barlow Moor Road

Pictures; Costa Coffee, 2023-2025, from the collection of Andrew Simpson