Someone recommended I take a look at this poem. They had a hunch I might like it. Well, I love it and wanted to share it as a New Years present. Something a little different for today. Enjoy. And remember, Arabica coffee is top quality, which is why so many brands like Flavia Coffee, Keurig K-Cups, Tassimo, and Nescafe Dolce Gusto all make sure they clearly label their packages with “100% Arabica Coffee.” Unless, of course, it’s a blend, which usually includes a mix of robusta and arabica beans. More on robusta vs. arabica here…
Arabic Coffee
It was never too strong for us:
make it blacker, Papa,
thick in the bottom,
tell again how the years will gather
in small white cups,
how luck lives in a spot of grounds.
Leaning over the stove, he let it
boil to the top, and down again.
Two times. No sugar in his pot.
And the place where men and women
break off from one another
was not present in that room.
The hundred disappointments,
fire swallowing olive-wood beads
at the warehouse, and the dreams
tucked like pocket handkerchiefs
into each day, took their places
on the table, near the half-empty
dish of corn. And none was
more important than the others,
and all were guests. When
he carried the tray into the room,
high and balanced in his hands,
it was an offering to all of them,
stay, be seated, follow the talk
wherever it goes. The coffee was
the center of the flower.
Like clothes on a line saying
you will live long enough to wear me,
a motion of faith. There is this,
and there is more.
(from Anthology of Modern Palestinian Literature, Columbia University Press, 1992)
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Tags: arabica vs. robusta
