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.
About the Creator
Lisa Herdman
I'm learning to be wildly inappropriate, ridiculous, needy - and alive.
Thank you so much for all the support!
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Comments (2)
I never learned to drink coffee, though I've always loved the smell (& coffee ice cream is one of my favorites). Still, for a while I made it for my wife. She always gave explicit instructions. Now she no longer trusts me. (Either that, or I don't get up early enough anymore.)
Oh my heart. A baby caffeine addict in the wild. But seriously, this was a precious moment. I can picture them trying to be quiet so as to not wake the household. Click buzz click buzz :)