Veneration of Espresso
by Odin Roark

Some claim
It’s the expressive kick
Others the waft that delivers a wake up slap
Jostling hung-over eyelids
As liquid crutches prop up wakefulness

Bodies ache for its earth-moving strength
Even the cigarette and biscotti rejoice
As black tar of the gods coats tongue and palate
Preparing blood stream and brain for its transfusion

For a mind’s cloudy day
Such are addictive ritual awakenings to color
Where taste buds prompt the mind
Knowing life loves to live
Swallow by swallow
Be it air
Water
Or espresso