Cafe Cocktail

Bitter brown brewed bean
Beverage black in caffeine
Rising aroma, rich roasted
wakes mind tonic toasted

Starbucks cup, logo signed
Dawns daily grande grind
absent of sugar and cream
I like it bathed dark extreme

Mornings madness, flavor fixed
Moves dog day till one b’fore six
Work week rolls, java jimmied
Leaves nerves shaken shimmied

Night sneaks in on mother moon
Can’t sleep, midnight is too soon
bewitched on coffees bitter bold
cruising on cafes cocktail hyper hold


Filed in Short Poems. You can leave a response or Trackback from your site.

 
« Dragon Fruit Dreams
Water Kites »
 
 

12 Responses

  1. katy
    21. May 2006 um 13:46

    i love all the alliterations in this poem. they make it buzz.

    i have this image of someone hopping around on one foot like a little kid going “yay coffee! yaya coffee yayayayay cooooooffeeeeee! ya!”

    then there’s always the mondane kind of “oh my god if i don’t have another cup in 10 minutes i’m going to collapse right here in the middle of the street” (in monotone)

    either way, it’s a really well written and exciting reflection on america’s (human’s?) addiction to coffee (and for some it’s not even about the caffeen).

    myself, am a tea drinker and the only thing i’ve ever gotten from starbucks was a cup of steamed milk (which i remember was really nice).

  2. Travis
    21. May 2006 um 20:10

    Hi Katy, Thank you for your perception of this poem. Yes, it was written so that the reader would feel this bitter hyper addiction. Also, kind of reflects on many’s fast paced lifestyles. I like tea as well, orange pekoe tea, green tea, oolong tea, herbal teas, and “Japanese milk tea” which is my favorite… I’ve never has a cup of just steamed milk from Starbucks. I’ll have to try it sometime.

  3. Glenn
    21. May 2006 um 20:19

    Nice write.. I get the jitters from Starbucks coffee too, They must have a secret ingredient i think.
    I have heard the overall standard of coffee in USA is quite poor. What say you?

  4. Travis
    21. May 2006 um 20:38

    I’m not sure about the quality of coffee here compared to other countries. I’ve been to Japan and had coffee there, and tasted some difference to the local beans here…but nothing to striking. I’ve always liked Starbucks bold flavored coffees. I had the local bean in Japan as well as the Japanese Starbucks, and so far Starbucks has been my taste in both countries. I’m wouldn’t doubt that some of the other countries standard of coffee is better then the states though.

  5. Ron
    22. May 2006 um 08:51

    I have the good fortune to have a stepson who works at a local StarbigBucks. He says you would be amazed at how much coffee they throw away each week. I am an occasional recipient of unsold and sometimes out of date but still perfectly good bags of unground bean.
    Lucky me if only because I save a few bucks from time to time.
    Well, one more cup and I’m off to work….

  6. Travis
    22. May 2006 um 11:19

    Wow! Lucky you! Yes, that is quite fortunate. At least it’s nice to know that they are throwing away the old coffee and serving the fresh. Today I had Gold Coast blend, is was pretty good.

  7. Cecilia
    22. May 2006 um 13:58

    Despite the fact that Belgium (Brussels) is mighty proud of their coffee culture (which should say a lot about the standards!), I still miss Starbucks. Gotta have that Caramel Macchiatto whenever I get the chance to pop in (all the way to San Fran when I visit family).

    This is a fun poem ~~ coffee aroma twirled around my head as I was reading it.

    I should also add that I admire you for the way you write your poems ~~~ always in rhymes! This is fascinating.

  8. Travis
    22. May 2006 um 14:08

    Thank you Cecilia, Yes, I write many of my poems in rhyme, but I am trying to experiment with free verse as well… I actually find free verse more of a challenge as to make it poetic without sounding like a story, blog entry, matter of fact type content. So I admire your free verse just the same. Are there no Starbucks in Brussels?

  9. Barry Hurd
    22. May 2006 um 15:23

    I always enjoy coffee poetry- then again I’m addicted to comparing blends of coffee with everything from relationships to life. I just did some new coffee related poetry over the weekend I should post myself.

  10. Travis
    22. May 2006 um 17:41

    Thanks Barry, I would like to see some other coffee poetry. You should post it.

  11. Barry Hurd
    23. May 2006 um 11:49

    I just put up half a dozen coffee poems on my site- I currently have a hundred or so but I’m weeding out the excessively bad ones. LoL.

    FYI- They are all keyed under ‘coffee’ on the menu.

  12. Travis
    23. May 2006 um 12:20

    I found them! Thanks Barry!

Leave a Reply