Published in collaboration with The Lanthorn, from their February 2019 volume, “Imprints”. Poem by Tyger Doell with commentary from Lanthorn editor Ally Stevick.
“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.”
– T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”
You have filled my mug up
With all you have to offer me;
The hospitality wraps around my nose,
Smiles at me through my reflection
In the liquid.
We both lift the cups to our lips,
A warm and friendly Eucharist
It is like you whisper to me
(and truthfully, I to you)
“When you go from this place,
Do this in remembrance of me.”
In this moment,
I see myself in a thousand mornings and evenings,
Some of them spent at your table.
In this moment, and infinite others
I will.
Lanthorn Editor’s Note: Ally Stevick
“Coffee Mug Conversations” first stood out to me because of the epigraph–I love T.S. Eliot’s “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” and I love the way that this poem pays homage to it. “Coffee Mug Conversations” makes the drinking of coffee not only a physical action, but also a stage for emotional and relational action. I’ve always interpreted the quote about measuring out life with coffee spoons to mean that each coffee spoon represents a day in the speaker’s life, but “Coffee Mug Conversations” suggests to me a new possible interpretation: that coffee in a social context like this becomes more than just the coffee, and that to measure it out is to measure out life as well.
I also enjoy the allusion to the Eucharist–the imagery of cups and drinking resonates well with that of taking the Eucharist. But more than the physical imagery, I appreciate how this poem reminds me that Eucharist or Communion is just that–a kind of communing, a fellowship. The Latin root which the word “communion” comes from means “sharing in common.” This sharing is present both in the Eucharist and in this poem–as the two characters share coffee and friendship. I think that “Coffee Mug Conversations” can serve well to remind the reader of those special people with whom the reader has communed over coffee. This is a reminder that I really value.
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