Ode to Caffeine

I rush to Enmark,
eager for you,
impatiently waiting for other customers
to finish with you.

You share your favors too indiscriminately,
requiring only sixty-three cents from strangers.

You snap me into alertness every morning,
filling my body with energy
and artificial sweeteners
and French vanilla cream
(those French!).

I sip you slowly,
drawing out the moment,
avoiding the papers on my desk,
the journals on the floor,
the books to read,
the letters to write,
escaping into French decadence with you,
my morning companion.

You slide into my mouth,
taunting me with the last drop,
reminding me it's time to leave you
and return to work.
Adieu, caffeine,
until tomorrow.