I’m definitely feeling the poetic struggle as I reach mid-month. My mind is on my students and figuring out how to support them in this distance learning emergency. I’m housebound with little outside inspiration. My neighborhood is nice–but it really isn’t evoking poetic thoughts right now.
So instead…I turn to thoughts of the coffee I drink every morning. The coffee I crave…want…need… And I know it’s not about a caffeine addiction, I switched to decaf more than a decade ago. So today’s poem is an ode…to decaf.
Ode to my Decaf
I swim in its depths
the warm, dark steamy whirls
of decaffeinated comfort
earthy aroma
that spirals
from my mug directly
into my nostrils
steaming open my brain
loosening thoughts
opening the doors
to today
the whir of the bean grinder
echoes
the drip drip drip
a tympanic symphony
within the glass carafe
I come up for breath
wrapping my hands
around the ceramic
warming
from the inside out
for me
it’s not the caffeine
it’s the coffee
®Douillard
Thinking Through My Lens 
This could be the first ode ever written to decaf! I really like the lines “warming/from the inside out.” My morning coffee is decaf with a whiff of caffeine (5/6 decaf). One more thing we have in common! 🙂 Hang in there, Kim. Yesterday felt tough on this coast, too.
Thanks Molly. It’s nice to know I’m not alone!
Perfect, even though I still need the caffeine. ” I wrap my hands around the ceramic warming…”