Office Coffee - Feb 3 2023

 

Office Coffee

Feb 3 2023

The pot of tepid coffee

with the slightly off taste,

either stale

or burned,

too weak, too strong, too cheap;

some supermarket brand

from a jumbo can

bought in bulk.

Down to the dregs,

the bitter sediment

that settles in the bottom

in a dark gritty layer.

And the glass

that's never been properly washed

stained a permanent brown.

Which doesn't bother anyone,

because doesn't hot water

kill whatever anyway?

Not to mention

that such potent coffee

is surely lethal enough.

Joe, java, cuppa,

dirt, swill, mud.

Office coffee,

cut

to soften the taste

with plenty of sugar and lukewarm milk

a little past its “best” date.

In our personal mugs,

which are also indelibly stained

and dutifully await,

day-after-day

bottoms up

beside the coffee maker

in all their mismatched homeliness.

We all pitch in to pay,

the life-saving perk

of bottomless coffee

to break the office drudgery.

Or, in fancier places

the boss does.

Donuts

on us.