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I pray for my country that it not buy the truckloads of horse manure being peddled by dishonest felons. . . . Meanwhile, I wait for enlightenment and drink coffee.
Garrison Keillor
~
Because drinking coffee is the reason to get up
every morning. Because it is bitter, and that’s
the way I like it. Because the reliable sun
percolates the woods, pours light from east
to west, an endless carafe. Because each day
is a fresh new start, revised as the sky
after rain. Because my mug is full
of dark goodness, and the day is a clean
blank sheet. Because despite the blather
on the television and internet, there is still coffee.
~~~~
Barbara Crooker’s books include Slow Wreckage (Grayson, 2024). Her many awards include the WB Yeats Society of New York Award, the Thomas Merton Poetry of the Sacred Award, and three Pennsylvania Council fellowships in literature.

~~~
Copyright 2025 Barbara Crooker
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Thank heaven, there is still coffee!
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Oh, yes.
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Two Yeti Rambler’s full of strong coffee with hot milk–I put the coffee on and head out for my walk. The coffee will be ready when I get home. Hallelujah, I am alive!
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Thanks, Donna! Maybe I can join you doing this next year?
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Yes!! I have an extra Yeti for just such an occasion.
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My doctor allows me one cup of caffeine-laden Joe per day. Her advice is easy to follow, when I mix the elixir with decaf, and drink two cups. She is always proud of ingenuity when it comes to heeding what she says. But sometimes the coffee is a steep act to follow.
Enlightenment de-trumps horse manure as other comments on Vox so clearly say.
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Love it! Thanks!
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Thanks for the daily de-trumping, Jim. I always feel better after reading your comments.
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Barbara Crooker, I raise my coffee mug to you this morning! And my pumpkin muffin too. 😉
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Yum to the pumpkin muffin! Thanks!
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Ahh coffee and pumpkin muffin. I might get up.
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And because I was about to turn over and fade back into sleep and now the scent in my imagination is calling me ( I envision a cartoon character, Bugs Bunny?, following it) I might arise…
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Or not
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Hahahaha
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Thanks! I hope it’s a good day for you. . . .
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And because you, Barbara Crooker, are our maestra this morning, our poetry cups runneth over!
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That’s so kind of you, Sean. Thanks so much!
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Thank you and amen for this poem — for “Because the reliable sun
percolates the woods, pours light from east to west,” And I’d add: because there is us, all of us, on VP!
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Laure-Anne, you have such a beautiful soul!
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Time to arise. Or maybe not.
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Hope you have a good day!
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Amen, Laure-Anne! And thanks for the kind words–
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Hallelujah! Doesn’t that say it all? Only one cup a day for me, to pick me up and carry me through whatever the day might bring…
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Thanks, David. Glad to see you’ve negotiated the technology and are back in the VP conversation.
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Me, too (only one cup a day). Thanks for the kind words!
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