Ode to a Coffee Mug
Joshua Gray
I have found no better companion
To drink my morning cup-o-joe with than the man
On the brown mug in which my coffee sits.
The man is but a face, a bas relief
That sticks out of the side of the clay cup
Like a joke. Like fattened lamb thighs
His white crossed eyes meet each other.
His big snout sits compromised above
The massive moustache that almost makes the look,
Like he had been hit over the head by a ten-pound bag
Of whole coffee beans. An elaborate handle,
Thumb rest and all, provides the macaroni
Hair style. Coffee mug,
You put a smile on my face every morning
When I open my office door, right when I remember
My college fish friends. Before I killed them all,
Even the big orange one I dubbed Poseidon,
I was too poor to buy an entire obstacle course
For the little gillies, so I put you inside the tank
In place of a plastic mini cave, and watched
The ghoti stare wide-eyed before diving
Deep into your darkened innards.