In Praise of Joeby 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 moon washed 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.
My friend Leon shared this with me...I thought it would make a good blog post. How do you feel about "joe"? Personally, I couldn't do mornings without him!! Sadly, the mornings I know it's ready to brew I get out of bed faster and with more purpose than the mornings that I know I need to grind and fill with water before I can push the beautiful "on" button.
I just love coffee. And sadly enough, like the poem says, I'll take it just about any way I can get it. I've been known to drink the really bad stuff when in a pinch. (district inservice days)
I remember drinking the dark thick yummy stuff in Germany. Nothing will touch that "joe" I experienced. And I have my favorite "special brews" that I love and am willing to pay 4 bucks for. Those special brews are few and far between these days though. Gotta love living on a budget!
That's all I have. Enjoy your Monday and grab a cup of joe...and if you don't "do joe"...what do you do? And how do you like yours? I like mine black. And I like french roast. Yummy.
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3 comments:
And do you know where the term Joe comes from.... coined in WWII time because all of the GI Joe's drank sooo much of it!
Yep, gotta have it!
Mmmmm, that looks so yummy!
I can live without it, but I like to drink it occasionally. I ADORE the smell of it-I even have a candle that smells like a yummy latte. :)
You need to email me your address since you are one of my prize winners for my PiF contest!
Mmmmmmm. I love coffee. It gets me through my days, or at least my mornings. I briefly dated a guy that owned a small coffee shop chain in Seattle once. Didn't last long. The strength of his "Joe" wasn't enough to keep me hooked.....and by "his 'Joe'" I mean his coffee. What you're thinking of would be his "Johnson," not his "Joe." Jeesh! Get your mind outta the gutter whydontcha?!! ;)