Friday, September 27, 2019

Poetry Friday

via Unsplash


In praise of joe
by Marge Piercy

I love you hot
I love you iced and in a pinch
I will even consume you tepid.

Dark brown as wet bark of an apple tree,
dark as the waters flowing out of a spooky swamp
rich with tannin and smelling of thick life—

but you have your own scent that even
rising as steam kicks my brain into gear.
I drink you rancid out of vending machines,

I drink you at coffee bars for $6 a hit,
I drink you dribbling down my chin from a thermos
in cars, in stadiums, on the moonwashed beach.

Mornings you go off in my mouth like an electric
siren, radiating to my fingertips and toes.
You rattle my spine and buzz in my brain.

Whether latte, cappuccino, black or Greek
you keep me cooking, you keep me on line.
Without you, I would never get out of bed

but spend my life pressing the snooze
button. I would creep through wan days
in the form of a large shiny slug.

You waken in me the gift of speech when I
am dumb as a rock buried in damp earth.
It is you who make me human every dawn.
All my books are written with your ink.


I'm a tea drinker, but except for that small detail and the fact that I've not written multiple books (yet), this poem rings fairly true. There's a steaming cuppa sitting beside me as I write.

Here's to all the things that gut us out of bed and waken in us the gift of speech, including Poetry Friday! Carol, at Beyond LiteracyLink, has the roundup this week.

14 comments:

  1. Yes, here's to all the things that get us going! I'm a tea gal, too. xo

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  2. Love that ending! (I have had some coffee already and I have tea next to me now!)

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  3. I thought this poem was a good one for these days that turn a bit of summer breeze into a fall-ish whooshing. Tea for me please!

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  4. I love coffee, but prefer it half caffeinated at most. I'm a bit too buzzy all on my own! lol

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  5. I love both coffee and tea depending on my mood.

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  6. I would love to have tea, the kind with caffeine in it, alas I'm a big water drinker–sometimes cold, sometimes hot, and sometimes with a slice of lemon, thanks Mary Lee!

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  7. This especially rings true as I sip my coffee this morning...in a quiet house before anyone else is up. I'm reading Poetry Friday posts and am happy, happy, happy. Coffee is my reading friend!

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  8. I haven't seen this poem before. My coffee is my companion every morning. This morning I am trying it with oat milk at my daughter's house. Different but yummy.

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  9. Only me for a couple of cups in the am, but wishing I could share with my mother. She would nod "yes" & "yes" again. Thanks!

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  10. What a fabulous poem, whether one prefers coffee or tea. Perhaps someone should write an ode to caffeine? :)

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  11. I just finished sipping my cup of tea, but I do start my morning with both tea and coffee! I can so relate to this poem.

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  12. Yes to the topic, to the writing of books in wet bark ink, but also to the language of this poem, both mundane and rising like wakening steam. Great choice! (also, good morning!)

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  13. A fun ode to those gifts (coffee, tea, diet Coke for me) that get us moving and help us through the day!

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  14. I'm so thankful for a coffee pot that turns itself on in the morning. I'm not sure I would get out of bed otherwise.

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