How to pour a cup of coffee

I was nineteen and embarrassed -

I’d never made a cup of coffee before.

I stood in the doorway listening

to the click buzz click buzz cicadas

and trying to pick out the perfect cup

for the occasion.

/

That’s the trick, I thought,

the cup has to be just right.

/

I dug through sticky cabinets, reminding the

oooo wahhh creaking hinge to stay open.

Don’t you know that this is important?

The mismatched cups sat quietly.

/

Black, black, blue, white,

until I saw it -

black and gold and only

a tiny bit chipped.

/

I struggle to shhhh

apart the filters,

stuffing them in and

packing down the grounds

before I hit the button.

/

No water!

I stammered to the left.

Turn the button off!

I stammered back.

/

I pulled the settled pot out

to drink from the sink,

set it back in,

pulled it back out,

poured its mouth into the machine

then replaced it.

/

I paused in the click buzz click buzz.

/

Hit the button.