Haiku 2023–176

her coffee cup sits

right next to my coffee cup

ready for morning

— — —

As promised in an earlier haiku, coffee is making yet another appearance in my writing. I’m a ‘one cup a day’ kind of person these days, but it still remains an important ritual in my life… and that of my wife as well.

My wife worked over over a decade for a large coffee concern and we posess more coffee mugs than any one family should have. That being said, the two of us have our favorites. Hers is stout and stark white except for some gray lettering at the bottom. It serves as a reminder of a highlight of her professional career. In stark contrast, my daughter painted my favorite cup a riot of colors at a ‘you paint’ pottery place. It even includes her signature mark — a small smiley face you can see when you’re done with your coffee.

We keep our cups in a cupboard, but this haiku preserves a moment earlier this week when I walked to the kitchen in the evening and saw our two coffee cups sitting side by side right next to the coffee maker. My wife confirmed this was intentional — she wanted to make sure everything was ready for coffee first thing in the morning. My love language is acts of service (“The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts” by Gary Chapman — a highly-recommended read) and this small act of kindness filled me with love worth of preservation.