~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Steamy coffee rich and dark,
your warm vitality
seeps into me,
arouses me,
your spicy scent seduces me
to exotic climes
where my mind wonders
what adventures led you?
To this heated moment
when you caress my lips
and fulfill my longing
with heady caffeination.

Growing up on your mountain
under rain song bird forest,
were your ripe cherries plucked
by loving hands
descended from Incan kings?
Or were you bundled into burlap,
tossed over broad black shoulders
of children from Timbuktu?
Spirited away and sold
to overseas bidders
by the Yemeni sons
of Sinbad himself?

You once tempted
the goats of Ethiopia
with promise of cavorting kicks
until the goatherds caught on,
and claimed you for themselves.

One thousand years later
you fired
mad bongo beat poet
goateed all night kicks
which still echo
through coffee shops around the world.

You've sailed the high seas
finally crossing the
Gulf of Mexico
right into Mobile Bay.
You were roasted
on a cool Sunday afternoon,
lazy and sunny,
made warmer
by your aroma
luring us to the counter
for one more sip.

And now that I have you in my hands,
I will not apologize!
For your abduction.

I clasp your cup,
breathe you in,
wrap my taste buds
around your full body,

and I am alive!

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