010520f

 

K-cups save us from 

overpriced stimulants 

eyes wide open

043019b

the last coffee plant
died without producing beans
been wanting to quit

011519

it's almost coffee, this drink the natives brew,
open up your eyes, forever shut them too.

100218b

this program
needs a second cup of coffee
or a swift kick

111317c

the morning pick-me-up

eyes open
hair stands up straight

his sweaty brow
his trembling hands
now that was coffee

090417

Touch

Darrell stumbled to the kitchen, desperately hoping there was coffee. There wasn't. In desolation he put some water in a coffee cup and raised it to his lips. He downed three swallows of aromatic nectar of the bean before he remembered he'd expected water. He set the cup down with shaking hands. He sniffed. Yes, this was that ambrosia Prometheus had given to man.

The special: grits, eggs, and bacon (or sausage). A dollar less than eggs and bacon alone. So even though he didn't eat grits, it was worth it. Today he asked for water instead of coffee.

"You flyin' this morning?" Rashika said, "why else you don't want coffee?"

"An experiment," he replied. When she turned away he took a sip. He gulped the rest so she wouldn't see the coffee. It was the perfect temperature.

"How was the experiment?"

"I'm makin' it."

Coke turned. Also, orange juice, milk, and vinegar, but not liquid paper. A shadow fell across him.

"Bored, Stevens? I can't think of a better reason for drinking liquid paper. And if you ARE bored," his boss continued, "I can find something for you."

Darrell hastily screwed the lid back on.

"Back to work and quit fooling around."

"Yes sir."

By the time the apartment door closed behind him that night, Darrell had drunk so much converted coffee his hands were shaking. He wanted water, but it seemed that wasn't going to happen. He started to examine the horse's teeth in earnest and came up with some hair-raising questions.

Just what would happen if he cut himself and absentmindedly sucked on it? If he watered the bushes and drank from the hose would the entire municipal water supply go mocha? What if he got seawater in his mouth at the beach? Was kissing too close to drinking? How long could he live without water?

He could drink broth, it turned out, if he did it with a spoon, so he didn't have to resort to intravenous fluids. The problem of kissing was only theoretical until he met Sara. Standing in line at the juice bar she struck up a conversation with him. One thing led to another. On the third date she grabbed him by the ears and took the kissing question out of his hands. She lived. She settled the ocean question by dunking him. Finally, he stopped at a drinking fountain and took the plunge. He had to know.

Publ. Daily Cabal 2007

041617

The Black Hole of Coffee

does one own a thing

that owns itself?

the thingamajig purred,

emitting a pleasing tone,

pleased, too, if I can judge

such things, as out popped

cubes that smelled like coffee,

Earth’s most complex, alluring odor,

but they shone like the sun and, like

the sun, pulled all things to them till only

things nailed down, and me, withstood

their mighty pull; the table round them wrapped,

my chair too (I fell), and I had to duck as knives and such

flew in and in till all suddenly shrank unto a mote, was gone

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