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Sunday, June 15, 2014

Coffee


COFFEE

What shall I say of coffee?
He is a brown man
Made from soil,
Pressed into shape,
Fired shiny,
Waxen as a lizard,
Hat white like dried-out shells,
Pulling at reins of a rearing horse,
Hooves sharp as pickaxes
Kicking up bright clouds of lime.
 
Early morning he is a dark and fragrant visitor.
He makes his diffident presence felt—
Memories of fresh bread,
Woody nuts,
Heady camphor.
 
Coffee fragrance is a medicine man
Opening his cabinet
To relieve slumbering burdens,
Heavy luggage hauled around
By traveling wakefulness.
He hands out syrups to sweeten unfulfilled dreams,
Hot poultices to soothe unforgotten nightmares,
Energy drinks to answer a world ceaselessly ringing,
Tonics for the family,
Ointments for friends,
Bandages for the heart.

Originally published in Brew Your Best Year (June 11, 2014), an online publication of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf



I love coffee...

2 comments:

  1. I worked on another version of this poem:

    COFFEE

    Coffee is a brown man
    Made from soil,
    Pressed into shape,
    Fired shiny,
    Waxen as a lizard,
    Hat white like dried-out shells,
    Pulling at reins of a rearing horse,
    Hooves sharp as pickaxes
    Kicking up bright clouds of lime.

    Dark and fragrant visitor,
    He makes his diffident presence felt:
    Memories of fresh bread,
    Woody nuts,
    Heady camphor.
    They lighten
    Slumbering burdens,
    Heavy luggage hauled about
    By traveling sleepwalkers.

    Swinging open the cabinet,
    He hands out syrups to sweeten
    Unfulfilled dreams,
    Hot poultices to soothe
    Unforgotten nightmares,
    Tonics for the family,
    Ointments for friends,
    Infusions for the jaded,
    Bandages for the heart.

    Gonzalinho

    ReplyDelete
  2. Photo courtesy of pixabay.com under CC0 license

    Photo link: https://www.pexels.com/photo/food-caffeine-coffee-cup-53613/

    Gonzalinho

    ReplyDelete