café cubana bliss by Walter Bjorkman

Kat is Haitian and makes
the best, never produced one
without the required
head of sugar-foam

and the two headed
Caridad-Adriana duo
they take turns
in my present department

but when the going gets tough
and Kat’s on a sales visit
and our filter is broken

I descend the Juan Valdez
ladder to purgatory
down to the fourth level for
Gilda, an ex-boss
who started the tradition
around here

if she is not around
it is down to the lowest
level of Hades
the ground floor
cross the caféteria Styx
on the way
and have to (shudder) pay
75 cents for an automated
machine made
café cubana

(ever made any yourself?
stirring the sugar into a frenzy from the first few drops?
then adding a bit more and whipping it up in a froth?
then pouring the rest in with quick flicks of the spoon at the end
so you create a transition from the slightest bit of coffee at the top
to the rest, with just enough sugar to cut the bitter?)

it can be religious

I did it twice
the first was actually
café cubana bliss
the second a total disaster

I needed total concentration
they are talking business, or joking
while sub-consciously doing it

it is like when you master a song
and it becomes part of you
we all do it for work
typing, eating on the phone

but when the sub-conscious
act creates
café cubana bliss
what could be better

I got my fix