photo by davidd
coffee
by Richard Brautigan
Sometimes life is merely a matter of coffee and whatever intimacy a cup of coffee affords. I once read something about coffee. The thing said that coffee is good for you; it stimulates all the organs.
I thought at first this was a strange way to put it, and not altogether pleasant, but as time goes by I have found out that it makes sense in its own limited way. I’ll tell you what I mean.
Yesterday morning I went over to see a girl. I like her. Whatever we had going for us is gone now. She does not care for me. I blew it and wish I hadn’t.
read the rest here
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photo by Stephanie Watson
Poetry/Coffee links:
* Balzac's Margaret Atwood blend coffee helps raise funds and awareness for Canada’s Pelee Island Bird Observatory (Margaret Atwood's poems wow me. Like this one and this one.)
* The Drowsy Poet Coffee Company
* Espresso Neruda
* Walt Whitman: Cranberry Coffee Cake to go with your coffee
* The Shakespearean Insult Mug, in case you need something to keep your coffee in
* Coffee poems by Emmett Lee Dickinson, Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request
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Carol has the Poetry Friday round-up today at Carol's Corner
7 comments:
Hi, Tabatha. I was just speaking with another writer about short lines vs. long lines in poetry. Brautigan's long lines create a conversational tone -- so different from, say, a spare and attentive Kay Ryan poem. This line attracted me: "as if I were reading her a telegram from somebody else, a person who really wanted a cup of coffee, who cared about nothing else." What an observer of human nature he is!
Wow, this was both captivating and slightly freakish... set me on edge, yet I could not pull myself away. You never fail to keep me on my toes!
Such a veryy different poem, Tabatha. One of those poems where a really small thing, coffee, seems like it represents something so, so, so much bigger. And on the craft level, like Laura, I was fascinated by the long lines.
Now look at that Espresso Neruda - alliteration, word play, metaphors - how can one not love poetry? Thanks for sharing this ode on coffee. I have a feeling one of the GatheringBooks ladies (Iphigene) would just absolutely adore this as she is simply a coffee addict. I've been trying to cut down on my caffeine by drinking more tea, but just can't resist coffee. :)
Okay. That was a bit weird. But what can I say -- this Drowsy Poet is much more likely to make a strong cup of TEA than coffee any day of the week!
Brautigan has fascinated me for a long time. I fluctutate between admiring his irreverence and quirkiness and becoming impatient with his seeming self-indulgence/narcissism. He's rarely boring, though, and I hadn't seen this coffee piece before. Like Mary Lee, I'm a tea drinker so maybe I'm not fully getting everything :).
I wonder if the coffee is supposed to express a pulling together, a desperation? I enjoyed his lines, the story, think it's sad, but actually enjoy the women's rejection. I also like when poet's say things 'new', like "I knew that it would take a year before the water started to boil. It was now October and there was too much water in the pan." So much to look at in that line. Thanks Tabatha, for a poet I don't know much about.
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