Ode to a Coffee Mug
That mug deserves recognition
This poem is part of the NaPoWriMo 2024 challenge to write a poem a day in April. This is the prompt for April 9.
Our prompt for today (optional, as always) takes its inspiration from Pablo Neruda, the Chilean-born poet and Nobel Prize Winner. While he is most famous in the English-speaking world for his collection Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, he also wrote more than two hundred odes, and had a penchant for writing sometimes-long poems of appreciation for very common or mundane things. You can read English translations of “Ode to the Dictionary” at the bottom of this page, “Ode to My Socks” here, and “Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market” here.
Today, we’d like to challenge you to write your own ode celebrating an everyday object.
Coffee mug, my trusted friend, with each embrace my senses ignite. You mend my weary spirit, with daily ritual. Your sturdy handle oh so strong, curves and lines, the potter’s skill, you hold the elixir that keeps me going, my morning companion, my perfect start. Steam rising, you fill me with bliss, as you cradle my morning's zing, my liquid embrace, my gentle kiss, smooth, refined, tenderly warming. My coffee mug, my humble muse, You're more than just a vessel. In your presence, my thoughts diffuse; my companion in moments of despair.
Thanks very much for reading, subscribing, and sharing the stories, poetry, and essays in this space. If you like a story, poem, or essay, please click on the heart. Also if you are so moved, please leave a comment.