Wednesday, May 23, 2018

COFFEE


source



You're an addiction
Say those who misunderstand
The value of my intoxication
Grounded in my cultural interpretation
Of you 

"Wake up!" you say, "Smell me
Not the roses, so pretty
They paint life pink."
Unlike you
Who depict the flow of life in splattering ink

In infancy, I drank your elixir
A must for all, where I come from
You've stimulated my days,
Alerted my awareness, before slumber at night
No harm done
Instead, you've become
The fluid that often fuels connection
With the people I love

I need you, the way my lungs need air
Still, it's not fair
To call our relationship diagnosable
When what you do for me 
Is so utterly laudable


(Yes it's true - During my infancy it was not uncommon for Puerto Ricans to give babies a few drops of coffee in their bottles.  Also, my husband and I ritually drink coffee in the evening a few hours before bed.  No effect to our sleep.)

(For Poets United where Sumana asks us to pay tribute to someone or something.)




15 comments:

  1. I love coffee, too. TC!! Too Cute!!

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  2. If I have caffeine after ten a.m., my eyes stay round like saucers all night. LOL. I am a tea drinker, but I do enjoy the occasional cup of coffee. I enjoyed your poem!

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  3. Oh my god this is perfect!!💞 I love coffee and I love your tribute to it even more!💞

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  4. "Instead, you've become
    The fluid that often fuels connection
    With the people I love"

    A lovely tribute.

    Much♥️love

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  5. Smiling.
    Food sensitivities took coffee away from me, but the aroma is still perfume.

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  6. I was told that coffee would stunt my growtb--but now, I am with you all the way. Since retiring, though, I drink 1 or 2 cups not 4 to 6 cups.

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  7. A delicious tribute. But I'm a tea person though in winter I don't mind a cuppa :)

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  8. A tribute to coffee! I'm not supposed to drink it but I do enjoy an occasional mocha. I love the aroma, and I love the lines:
    '"Wake up!" you say, "Smell me
    Not the roses, so pretty
    They paint life pink."
    Unlike you
    Who depict the flow of life in splattering ink'.

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  9. No harm done
    Instead, you've become
    The fluid that often fuels connection
    With the people I love

    It blends the good feelings in sleep which otherwise may open oneself to bad dreams!

    Hank

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  10. yes.. one actually has a meaningful relationship with coffee..or in my case..tea. It's true!

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  11. This was written for me! Love it. So interesting about coffee in infancy...I've learned something new!

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  12. Beautiful! And right up my street.😊

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  13. Drinking coffee in the evening would sure affect my sleep! When I belonged to a lodge, there were those who drank the real stuff with "refreshments," and those who didn't, with the ones who did thinking that the ones who didn't were sissies.

    Thanks to Contigo mugs, I now drink coffee nearly all day. When I started drinking coffee in my twenties, I made the decision to take it black, mostly because I hated those powdered creamers, but also because it was simpler, plus I though that guys who used sugar and cream were sissies. When Peggy's relatives come, they complain about how strong our coffee is. The fact of the matter is that they drink name brands like Folgers, which taste weaker but actually have the most caffeine. About seven years ago, Peggy suddenly, for the the first time in her life, started drinking coffee. She started by putting a few spoonfuls in soy milk, and is now up to 50/50.

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  14. What a great tribute to a drink that I forsook over 40 years ago, only to rediscover its joys recently!

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