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Moliendo Café

Or, in English, "grinding coffee," a gritty manual labor job usually done by the desperate.

By Madison GarcíaPublished 6 years ago 1 min read
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Coffee berries, not yet picked from their shells.

I find myself envisioning the

faded evening where an old man,

who most likely

speaks no English, sticks his hand

into the mill

too soon

and shreds his fingertips, exposing pink

muscle and dripping crimson

onto the roasted husks of beans.

The other workers are too busy

to notice the slit in his skin,

and the temptation

of a few dollars

extra to feed his family

dinner that night

gives him

the tireless expectation

to continue crushing beans.

I sit in this chair and take a sip

of his black espresso,

noticing the unusually

salty taste of velvet in the cup,

and without hesitation

I take another sip of the espresso,

tasting strong earth

and accepting the excess flavor of salt.

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About the Creator

Madison García

Avid reader, aspiring writer, professional kitten petter, and experienced flash mob dancer (even if I'm the only one in the mob). I'm open to discussion and love a good debate!

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