A black and bitter secret
I've been drinking coffee. I'm not a coffee drinker; I don't like the stuff. The only way to wash away the aftertaste is to take another Sisyphusian sip (hee hee, alliteration). Besides, the caffeine doesn't sit well with me.
Still, on the occasional weekend I'll go have breakfast at Pieloon (I'll have the Pieloon omelet with cottage fries and squaw bread toast please). ...and if I'm alone I'll order coffee. Why? Honestly, it reminds me of my dad and my childhood. I once posted here an excerpt of a short story I wrote about ten years ago. It was called "Black Coffee and Fruit Loops" and featured coffee as a symbol (hint: how many contrasting characteristics can you find between black coffee and Fruit Loops?). See, my dad has always drunk a lot of coffee since I can remember. We often used to go out to breakfast together and coffee was always his mainstay.
Folks familiar with my reading/writing know I love symbolism, double entendre, metaphor, understatement and all those wonderfully subtle devices that allow me to share with the reader the responsibility for figuring out exactly what my words mean. But symbols also have real power for me in the bricks-and-mortar world. Some of these include coffee, hands, phrases like "sweet dreams," and certain smells.
I thought I had lost that short story. I thought I only had the excerpt of a draft I mentioned earlier. Lo and behold, all the recent diving through shoeboxes has unearthed an intermediate draft which I managed to scan in tonight. Here's a link to it. Unfortunately, it's not the final draft. That one's lost for good, I'm afraid.
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Man, I wish I hadn't eaten so much spinach dip. If I had a roommate, he'd wish that too.
Still, on the occasional weekend I'll go have breakfast at Pieloon (I'll have the Pieloon omelet with cottage fries and squaw bread toast please). ...and if I'm alone I'll order coffee. Why? Honestly, it reminds me of my dad and my childhood. I once posted here an excerpt of a short story I wrote about ten years ago. It was called "Black Coffee and Fruit Loops" and featured coffee as a symbol (hint: how many contrasting characteristics can you find between black coffee and Fruit Loops?). See, my dad has always drunk a lot of coffee since I can remember. We often used to go out to breakfast together and coffee was always his mainstay.
Folks familiar with my reading/writing know I love symbolism, double entendre, metaphor, understatement and all those wonderfully subtle devices that allow me to share with the reader the responsibility for figuring out exactly what my words mean. But symbols also have real power for me in the bricks-and-mortar world. Some of these include coffee, hands, phrases like "sweet dreams," and certain smells.
I thought I had lost that short story. I thought I only had the excerpt of a draft I mentioned earlier. Lo and behold, all the recent diving through shoeboxes has unearthed an intermediate draft which I managed to scan in tonight. Here's a link to it. Unfortunately, it's not the final draft. That one's lost for good, I'm afraid.
_________________________________
Man, I wish I hadn't eaten so much spinach dip. If I had a roommate, he'd wish that too.
posted by anchovy @ 8:16 PM
5 Comments:
At 11:47 AM,
mal said…
I was 30 before I learned to drink coffee. As a kid though, I always loved the smell. It held memories of Grampas kitchen and when he made breakfast for the sibs and me.
He was a great guy. He never gave my parents grief about letting me run around with my brothers like Grandma did. He died when I was 10, but 41 years later, everytime I smell fresh coffee, I think of him
At 9:28 PM,
anchovy said…
*sniff* Thanks for sharing.
At 1:16 PM,
Anonymous said…
my mum just recently took up drinking coffee every morning. two of my brothers and i also enjoy the stuff, though i have graduated from drinking it black to adding just a touch of sugar and some cream which makes me wonder why i ever drank it black in the first place! i have cut back on my caffeine intake, so i don't drink it often.
At 3:30 PM,
anchovy said…
You drank it black because you thought you'd look cool. That's all right, I won't hold it against you!
At 2:26 AM,
Anonymous said…
*sigh* and I did look cool...but no longer...
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