Julius Meinl swaps currency for poetry on 21st March
At the end of this month, there’s a day that combines two of my favourite things- poetry and caffeine. Cleverly, it’s called World Poetry Day and several coffee shops around the nation are handing out free coffee if you enjoy some poetry, preferably locally grown. It’s honestly a fantastic idea because everybody needs more poetry and frankly, everybody could use some more caffeine as well. So why not combine the two on one absolutely wonderful day every year? Pretty brilliant, if you ask me. But I’m biased.
Before you get your hopes up that your local Starbucks is participating and you can get a flat white in exchange for some words, don’t. Because it’s actually a local chain turning out the exchange. The coffee house Julius Meini, the Viennese coffee roaster committed to making the world a better place through the power of poetry, has several locations throughout London and in exchange for a handwritten poem that’s all your own, they’ll give you some caffeine. Why? Because of the correlation between literature and those little beans or tea leaves we love so much in the morning. Another fun fact? The “text art Banksy”, Robert Montgomery, is spearheading the campaign, not solely because he’s the chain’s global ambassador, but because he loves two of the world’s greatest creations. Caffeine and poetry.
Because let’s be honest with ourselves. A good cup of coffee and a book can’t be beat by much in today’s world and it’s a shame not more are enjoying the written word the way it was meant to be read-on pages and in ink.
Part of the allure of World Poetry Day is to make the world a better place. And as cliché as that sounds, often times world change and even peace can be achieved through the goals of this annual holiday. Words change lives often times more so than we realise and a good cup of warm joe can help spearhead those words into action, real honest action that can do real good. But words are not only on pages-they’re also often in coffeehouses, where creative types tend to congregate in masses. And this is something Julius Meini has noticed over the years and hopes to tap into with this day. As the CEO states, “Julius Meini is a global ambassador of coffeehouse culture and, for us, the essence and soul of this culture is poetry. What distinguishes it is the special atmosphere that takes people to new thoughts. It connects people to one other and inspires them as it once did the Viennese coffee house literati of yesteryear”. Words so often not only inspire us to do good but they also help us realise that we’re not alone in this world-there are others that are feeling the same things as we are currently and that if someone on a page can get through it, so can we. With a little love, hope, and courage of course. And I am so glad World Poetry Day is a thing as well as is taking advantage of the local coffeehouse culture around the world. As ordinary people can change the world and they often find that inspiration to do so within words and warm cups of caffeine.
To find out more about World Poetry Day and how you can take part, visit www.facebook.com/
