Before Coffee

                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                         

Eyes slowly open like rusty hinged doors.

As I sit up, my vertebrae crack like brittle ice.

Right foot—

left foot.

My knees creek as

I stagger drunk;

straining toward the prize

of liquid energy.

There on the counter,

drip by drip

drop by drop,

the steamy,

 brown,

 liquid energy,

reaches the eight cup mark.

 My cup fills

 at a snail’s pace

 with an atomic drink

that warms me from within.

Eyes pop open.

Nuclear power surges through my being.

Removing the black-out that was over

the city.