Poetry While You Wait

It was an ordinary Tuesday, and I was just walking to the mailbox on Cherry Street. I dropped my letter in the box, and headed back toward Old Navy. Suddenly, I heard something I hadn’t heard for a very long time: the “click click click” sound of a REAL typewriter. Although there are a lot of unusual sights on Church Street, this really caught my eye.

He didn’t have a flashy orange sign, or even a professionally printed one, he didn’t have flaming torches, or a tight-rope, his sign was simply on a sheet of 8 ½ x 11, hand written, in both English and French, it read “Poetry while you wait! Poesie Pendant que vous attendez!” He had a tray table set up, topped with a stack of paper, and a real “old school typewriter”.

With nothing in my hand but a Starbucks gift card, I came back to the office, grabbed my camera, and made my way back to Church Street. His set-up was so small and simple, the only time he drew a crowd was when he would begin composing, and the “click click click” sound would echo through Church Street. I approached the tray table and requested a poem. He asked me what I wanted it to be about, or what my interests are…something to build to poem from. Since I had my camera right there, “photography” seemed like a natural response.


While he was typing my poem, people walked by and I overheard comments like “THAT is why I love this city, you never know what you’re going to see” or “hey dude—they make electronic typewriters now, or even laptops!” People stopped to take photos with camera phones. In a matter of minutes, while I waited…. I had a poem!