from a Bean

Espresso short shot

makes Ristretto,

Doppio – a double-shot,

add water –

it’s a Lungo, add more –

Café Americano;

add milk or cream –

Flat White, Cortado

Cappuccino, Macchiato

Café au Lait

and Café Mocha

au chocolat

i like a lemon peel with

my Espresso, not to rub a cup’s rim

but to infuse the citrus in

for a soda pop tint

my taste corrupted

by Capitalism and

Progress

as would say Rousseau

i grew up with Turkish,

as common as instant in Russia

up the block from high-school

used to get a Milk & Sugar

at the Z-deli on eighth

for fifty cents

i’d gotten tipsy off

an Irish Coffee in Dublin

in Miami in my twenties

i discovered Cuban café con leche

the special ingredient –

evaporated milk

most curious, in my thirties –

an iced Charcoal latte, unearthed

at Longfellow’s Coffee while driving

from upstate New York to Jersey Shore

now armed with my Frother

home-made Lattes every day

stovetop, Keurig,

or French press –

i use the press for

Cold Brew in the summer –

make it in the eve and

leave it in the fridge till morning

when my mother

took painting as a hobby

she drew a portrait

of me holding a latte

If you ever need to stay

Awake for two days –

i knew someone from NYFA

who once drank a Red-Eye…