Best of the Boards
Steve Herron

Eggshell white china cup
made in Thailand
spidered with threads
stained chestnut
by cinnamon-apple tea
and coffee
cradled in unlined hands
caressed by fingers
tipped with bitten nails.

And the cream plunges
to the bottom and then
mushrooms up the sides
to feather the black liquid
like cirrus clouds illuminated
by a full winter moon

Swirling like the Matisse lettering tattooed
on her wrist, heaven threw up
a misinterpreted lyric
from youthful dreams of angst
and posed personality.

The grunge grown-up
now sits Midwesternized
by the autumn sun
that shadows the nurtured cup
onto polyurethane plywood
as the steam rises
and dissipates
into the flavored air
of the Caribou Coffee Shop
as she sits gazing beyond the window.

Steve can be reached at mrherron2[at]bignet.net.