Coffee, My Love

According to the Food and Drug Administration,

caffeine is a highly addictive substance

You may not see it that way because its effects

lurk in our coffee cups

But from the moment

you take the first sip

your neurotransmitters flip around between receptors

like they’re acrobats

 

Coffee is my liquid high

my dopamine receptors crave the

sugar laden, warmer than a hug

feeling I get when I swish it between my teeth

 

According to Psychology Today,

every time I hear your voice

I get the same feeling

because your voice tastes like coffee

and I can’t quite shake the feeling-

that rush of excitement when you say my name

 

And I’ve stayed up two nights now

drinking espresso shots

like they’re my life force

because I need to stay awake

because I might see your name

in my caller ID

 

According to experts,

love is a drug

it starts by tickling your brain chemicals

before getting you hooked

and keeping you belted into that roller coaster

even when you feel it getting a little too fast

 

But as time has passed

I think it’s possible to get away with more

so I drink the echo of your voice like my frappucinos

in the morning

your random jokes tickle my brain cells

and I can’t shake this feeling of

being in your grip because I kind of like it

and even when I crashed last time

it didn’t matter because I was with you

 

I was with you the first time I ever had a drink

you showed me the way it works

and I didn’t really like it

but I finished the whole thing anyways

because I was with you

because even though the aftertaste

was so bitter

I couldn’t quite shake the way it bound to

my tongue

 

According to professionals,

the more of a drug you take

the less it grips you

the less you become okay with the sweet and low

and the more you want the real sugar

because the more coffee you drink

the more you settle for bitter

And I like to tell myself that

maybe that’s the reason

you stopped answering my text messages

maybe we spent so much time together

that one meeting isn’t enough

to bond me to your memory

 

Two days have passed

and I’m still up all night

thinking about the way that first coffee tasted

in the back of my throat

I have been drinking espresso shots

like they’re raindrops

so I can feel the same way

you do

 

According to the poet,

it’s not healthy to stay up two nights

amped on oxytocin

and as my fingers tremble from

anxiety - I mean my 2:00 pm coffee -

I write to you.

I hope you’ll open your mailbox more than

you pull up your inbox

because I haven’t heard from you in a while

and I want to see if you’d like to go out

for coffee

 

This poem is about: 
Me
My family
My community
My country
Our world
Guide that inspired this poem: 
Poetry Terms Demonstrated: 

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