Coffee

I made a cup of coffee today

which is not particularly interesting,

(I must admit I am a regular when it comes to getting my caffeine fix),

except

today was different.

Today when I made my coffee

i thought

i thought about the dark umber liquid

as it streamed effortlessly out of the dated kurig machine;

about how easy it was to get my caffeine fix

a simple walk into the kitchen

the opening of a prepackaged grounds,

unlimited, clean water waiting to be released from a faucet

I look at the little white crystals in the sugar jar

and ponder their nature

how they came from a sugar cane, far away

perhaps from Brazil or India or the Philippines

and how they got to my tabletop.

I think about their history

and the sacrifices of so many;

the history of slavery on plantations;

the devastating economic battle that enabled

this commonplace product to be a staple in my diet today.

I turn to the fridge for milk

and again think of places far away

of the commercial farms and industrial technology

that pasturized this milk and expanded the milkshed

and how it was actually a miracle, that miles from the nearest cow

I had milk every day--

My cup of coffee, a part of my daily world

A part of my routine

simple

domestic

belonged to a world so much greater than me

a miracle that history and science and innovation

brought together

so I can regularly enjoy my caffiene fix