No more Coffee Blues

Note: published in Eskimo Pie, Hill Magazine, Duane Poetree, Coffee with Underhill

I love coffee
Always have
 
And coffee has loved me back
But lately I have sourced on her
Soured on the whole coffee scene
 
On the harshness of the morning brew
And the promises it makes
 
As I sip of its nectar
Drawn into its lair
 
Drinking drop by drop
As the caffeine takes over
 
Rewriting my every nerve
Turning me into a slave
For its perverted pleasure
 
Yes, I love coffee
But I am afraid
 
Coffee is a harsh mistress
Demanding so much of me
 
Promising the sun
And delivering the Moon
 
As I drink her swill
Deeping under her influence
 
I have the coffee blues
Can’t live with our her
Can’t live with her
 
I try
But tea does not cut it
Not really
 
Booze does not do it
At least not in the morning
 
Yoga is not enough of a buzz
Nor is the runner’s high
 
And I am afraid deadly afraid of cocaine
And speed and drugs and energy drinks
 
And so I remain a slave to coffee
My only legal drug
 
As I sip another and fall under her seductive spread
Once more failing my resolve
 
To skip coffee for that day
That morning that moment
 
I shall never be free of her spell
Ever and she knows it
 
As she beckons me
Every morning with her intoxicating smell