Sunday, December 22, 2019

Gay Guard-Chamberlin’s “Dear Coffee” is a prose poem.

Dear Coffee

All the other times I’ve tried to leave, I’ve come crawling back, but this time I mean it, things have gone too far. Granted, I may not be thinking as clearly without you by my side, but you can really get on a person’s nerves, and when I think of the nights of high anxiety, the stomachaches you’ve given me, my insane cravings for your strong embrace, it’s no wonder we’ve been on-again/off-again for years. 

Herbal? Tea? you snort contemptuously. You’ll find no passion there! Okay, maybe I do want to play it safe but I need a lover who treats me right, does no harm, can ease me into sleep, gives me room to meditate.

Java, my darling, you old charmer, there is no one who smells as good as you first thing in the morning, and it’s true you always make my heart beat faster, but please don’t look at me that way you do, begging me (at my age!) to stay up and dance with you until four. No, no more. Here’s your hat.

There’s the door.

~  Gay Guard-Chamberlin
From Red Thread Through a Rusty Needle (New Wind Publishing, 2019).

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