Coffee

by Tony Robles

I keep going to Peep’s Coffee
The coffee isn’t great
But the place has been
A has-been place where
It still happens and once I killed
A roach there by accident
And the coffee is constant in
Its consistency ranging from
Watery to a semi-syrupy serum
that takes care of what ails you

A tight budget keeps
Me coming and I don’t
Got a plot to piss in but
The coffee is only 75 cents
A cup

On the wall is a
Calendar stained with a
Year that passed away many
A fuckin’ moon ago and the
Coffee keeps coming, keeps
Pouring, sometimes bitter,
Sometimes better with grounds
Floating, never weak

And the conversation is a
Tangle of stops, stutters,
Guttural flutters, laughs
Curses and good natured
Teasing

“Say man, this
Some nasty ass
Coffee”

What you call it?

It’s called arabaca-dabra
Blend

And a big
Swig is taken

“Taste more like
Arabaca-dabrabullshit”

Laughter, wet with
Words down the wrong
Pipe, forgotten and
Coughed up

And the guy at the
Counter of Peep’s coffee,
A Chinese guy who makes
More than coffee replied,

“I piss in your grits”

Laughter

and the grits
are served up in the
grittiest of ways
the way it should

Peep’s coffee

A unique
Blend
© 2018 Tony Robles