Life After Coffee

I used to hate coffee. It’s plain bitter.

Growing up, when someone offered me to have a coffee, I urgently said no. I was not even curious to taste it, but by merely looking and smelling the beverage, the sway of the aroma mixed with the strong scent heightened my concept of disliking it. Perhaps due to my minority age, I preferred flavored juices and bunches of fresh milk, which outweighed the doors of sweetness. 

While I honor the guilt and pride, a circulating stigma of not drinking still compromises the locked and naive mindset of my viewpoint. Not until my father called me to make a hot black coffee for him while he was preparing for his work.

Stirring the cup of joe, I cannot imagine how my father will relish and endure the taste, considering the extreme flavor this drink yields to his body. 

“You know what, I am not looking after the taste, but the relaxation and energy it brings to my soul captivate a mental alertness to finish all my piled workloads to provide for our table.”

I smiled and gave him a warm hug with a teary eye—discerning that a bean could be an armor of toughness to gradually have power in passing the battle of life.

You will never understand the perception of one context if you don’t even urge to try it. Unless you take the risk, you’ll have a bigger picture of realizations after seeking the line of fear.

Now that I am currently in the corral of hurdles due to my college diary, the morale of espresso unlocked my sick spirit to create a buzz—forging my senses to function even in out-of-sorts moments. An appreciation after a sharp bitterness has snatched the sound of a hardworking man; no sweetener added, yet its essence fortifies passion amidst chaos.

In the dedication tapestry, there rests a mirror—reflecting an untold memoir of sipping a warm brew beside a rostered schedule. The debris has settled a deck of cards where in the episode of skepticism, souls can pick a coffee ticket moving forward from a gloomy haze.

While the sun rises, kissing the ocean, one’s inner being is glancing through the warmth of caffeine. Hearing the birds chirping, a fully charged individual is looking forward to a life after a coffee.

PHOTO SOURCE(S): YUAN CARLO BUNDALIAN

LAYOUT ARTIST(S): CHRISTIAN AVIV CRUZ