Morning Coffee

Years flow and ease through the landscapes of my mind

I stand staring at the glass of the bay window that’s littered with toys

Morning coffee rests warm against the palms of my hands

Caramel Macchiato poured into fresh-brewed grounds

Flavored caffeine breaking sunrise through weathered veins

Seasons ripple through the still waters of time past

Snow will cover the ground soon, and Christmas lights will go up

Then flowers will turn spring to summer on petals from early blooms

Days go by faster now, every one going quicker than the last

When I was six, thirty seemed like forever away

How old was I when six seemed like forever ago

A squirrel races up the trunk of a maple

Putting the cat on high alert

Sunlight lifts warm and yellow into a yawning morning sky

Drops of dew dance down blades of grass in translucent conga lines

Broadcast news plays forgotten, dogs chew on morning treats

Covering the room in a blanket of white noise

My thoughts drift through the leaves and branches outside

I wonder if he works today or if this is his day off

Will he visit in the fall, or will we have to make the trip ourselves

Another sip of caramel, another taste of toasty goodness

I never knew how much I’d miss him

When he stopped being a child

When he grew up

When he moved away to start a life of his own

Now his sister has followed him

Leaving another empty room

Saturday starts family weekend at her school

Our girl at college

A familiar refrain of videos plays loudly from speakers on an iPad

I'm forty-eight, fifty-eight when she's eighteen

How old will I be when she has children of her own

Lifting my cup, I'm reminded that some things never stop being good

My eyes drift to the orange dancing on the horizon

I wonder if I'll have a second cup today

Will it make me jittery if I do

Footsteps sound their way up the stairs

A familiar tug grabs my heart

Crystal blue oceans framed by dark natural curls

Make an appearance, to steal my breath

The way a new sun steals the morning fog with a warm shine

Setting my cup down, I find her hands as she finds mine

"I love you"

We both say in duet before the last of the distance between us vanishes

Our lips smile against good morning kisses

A pattering of feet echoes off the barn wood of the kitchen floor

Golden locks and brown eyes flecked with hazel, look up at us

"Daddy, I want breakfast"

"Do you want scrambled eggs,

an omelet, or strawberries with cereal?"

"I want eggs with cereal."

"That wasn't one of the options"

“It is one of the options, Daddy,” she retorts

Before she's off again, back to the kitchen and her iPad

One last kiss, before I slip my hands from hers, then a step, a breath

To fill my lungs, to get lost in the peace weaving in my heartbeats

Music fills the air from our future musicians' bedroom

Retrieving my cup I taste another sip of sweet caramel

People ask what the meaning of life is

I think the answer is different for everyone

Mine is here in this house, in all the moments we share

The morning cups of coffee, the goodbyes the hellos

My meaning is the family that surrounds me