The most fun I had, was considering my most beautiful thing: my marriage, yes; our children, yes; our granddaughter, yes… but write a poem that isn’t schmaltzy? No. So what else threads my life?
First Cup
Every morning, six forty-five, she sits, curled into a corner of the couch, a blue and white cotton kimono wrapped loosely around her. She nurses a white ceramic cup, listens to her husband’s voice. Nestling into her palms, the cup’s curved bottom warms her hands. The coffee’s fragrance wakes her brain, the taste fills her mouth, sings on her tongue, as her husband reads headlines to her, from the B.B.C..
My morning coffee —
the sun rising on my tongue —
pulls clouds from my mind.
Congratulations, Fiona, on your novel. To read about the blogsplash, if you haven’t, visit.
Margo Roby: Wordgathering 
Misky
24/04/2012 at 7:25 am
I’m right with you. Coffee. A must have. I’m going with my granddaughter, and hoping to avoid schmaltz.
margo roby
24/04/2012 at 7:42 am
Well, hello. I haven’t even finished replying to yesterday’s comments!
Mary
24/04/2012 at 7:33 am
I received an email this morning. Fiona is giving the novel away free as an Amazon Kindle download today until Wednesday night. Here is the link that explains:
http://www.writingourwayhome.com/p/most-beautiful-thing.html
margo roby
24/04/2012 at 7:43 am
Thanks, Mary. I think I’ll send the link to my sister-in-law. She’ll love it.
The Happy Amateur
24/04/2012 at 7:48 am
Love your beautiful thing, Margo! It was the hardest thing ever to pick THE most beautiful thing… I couldn’t do it. I tried to go with a feeling that kind of encompasses all the beautiful things in my life.Don’t know if I managed, but I had fun trying!
margo roby
24/04/2012 at 7:53 am
Sasha, it was hard when I considered THE most beautiful things, but come down a tier and I found my brain more cooperative!
Fiona Robyn
24/04/2012 at 8:59 am
I find this one strangely moving – something about familiarity, and my own associations with cups of tea : ) thank you Margo x
margo roby
24/04/2012 at 9:01 am
Thank you for the opportunity, Fiona. There is something about the making and drinking of tea and coffee, isn’t there?
honjiunw
24/04/2012 at 10:14 am
I found this post just really beautiful. It was just so … calming, just reading it and picturing the scene put me at instant ease. Not a big fan of coffee or tea but I can always substitute that for hot chocolate. 🙂
margo roby
24/04/2012 at 10:20 am
Hot chocolate will do. Thank you, HJ. Oh, and the postcard arrived. Your best bet is still short emails 😀
honjiunw
24/04/2012 at 1:24 pm
Why oh why? I want to ship so many beautiful postcards to you. Although I won’t see them ever again.
margo roby
24/04/2012 at 1:47 pm
You may ship as many postcards as your heart wishes and I shall adore getting them. I’m just warning you that you won’t hear back! I know myself ^_^
A J Bailey
24/04/2012 at 10:34 am
The sun rising on your tongue – that’s a lovely image that’ll stick with me. Thanks for that, and for your comment on mine too.
margo roby
24/04/2012 at 11:55 am
You are welcome twice, AJ.
vivinfrance
24/04/2012 at 11:04 am
Poetic intro for perfect haiku! Caffeine verboten, so I’ll take tea.
margo roby
24/04/2012 at 11:54 am
Poetic enough for it to count as a haibun, ViV? Caffeine verboten. Okay, I’m not going there!
vivinfrance
24/04/2012 at 11:59 am
I thought you were saving your pennies to come and see us! I’ll buy in proper coffee just for you.
margo roby
24/04/2012 at 12:02 pm
I am, ViV 😀 I’ll bring Nescafe!
pmwanken
24/04/2012 at 8:58 pm
Still saving pennies!! 🙂
margo roby
24/04/2012 at 9:03 pm
Yes, indeedy!
booguloo
24/04/2012 at 2:20 pm
A great moment of time that you can run to.
margo roby
24/04/2012 at 2:39 pm
Thank you, Michael. I am there every morning!
purplepeninportland
24/04/2012 at 4:25 pm
Oh how beautiful, Margo. My husband reads the paper to himself, but otherwise, it sounds exactly like my mornings.
margo roby
24/04/2012 at 5:49 pm
It’s a lovely way to wake, isn’t it Sara?
purplepeninportland
24/04/2012 at 11:58 pm
It’s the best!
margo roby
25/04/2012 at 8:35 am
Thanks, Sara!
julespaige
24/04/2012 at 4:32 pm
Short and sweet! But just a bit to early of a get up time for me!
Mine was just a tad shorter….another Elfje:
the
most beautiful
thing; the ability
to express ones’ view
freedom
…
margo roby
24/04/2012 at 5:50 pm
If I didn’t get up then, I would never have me time with him!
I like the poem, Jules.
wordsandthoughtspjs
24/04/2012 at 6:26 pm
That is just gorgeous, Margo. I love coffee, it is the highlight of my mornings. We get wonderful Mexican coffee, and we are never disappointed. This is a great challenge, however, I am feeling a bit wrung-out with napo, to even consider pushing my boundaries more.
Pamela
p.s. is this a haibun? It reads like one.
margo roby
24/04/2012 at 8:19 pm
Thank you, Pamela. Yes, this is my first try at a haibun. I like the form!
Laurie Kolp
24/04/2012 at 6:30 pm
Amazing, Margo! I, too, have to have coffee first thing in the morning.
margo roby
24/04/2012 at 8:19 pm
Laurie, I figure coffee makes it worth getting up for!
Yousei Hime
24/04/2012 at 7:01 pm
I had to skip coffee (food and water) for some lab tests yesterday. I missed it more than anything else. Enjoyed this post very much and am now headed to blogsplash.
margo roby
24/04/2012 at 8:20 pm
I hate those mornings, Yousei! I’ll keep an eye out for your blogsplash.
Linda H.
24/04/2012 at 7:28 pm
Nice post, Margo. I, too, had a hard time picking a most beautiful thing. I wanted to write about something tangible, something where I could include a phot, but all I kept thinking of was love and hope and laughter and such. Then I open the door, walk outside, and there it was. Sometimes the universe takes care of things for us (after our cup of morning coffee).
margo roby
24/04/2012 at 8:21 pm
Hi, Linda! Between the large things like love and family and the small things like a flower, or leaf, I had so many possibilities, so I picked a joy!
pmwanken
24/04/2012 at 8:59 pm
ahh….a good cup of joe, some relaxing moments….and BAM…time to stretch! 😉
LOVELY haibun, my friend!!
margo roby
24/04/2012 at 9:02 pm
Ah, is that my sadistic stretch master I hear?
🙂 Thank you 🙂
pmwanken
24/04/2012 at 9:22 pm
yup 😉
tmhHoover
24/04/2012 at 10:02 pm
It is the end the most beautiful day… I am just now visiting. I think your morning pause with coffee is a revelation. It speaks of simple beginnings that allow one to take in a day in small sips. I really love this- And thanks for the comment at my place. xo teri
margo roby
25/04/2012 at 8:34 am
I do love your comments, Teri. There is always something in them that leaves me with the desire to write a poem from them. xom
tmhHoover
27/04/2012 at 12:26 pm
That means a lot coming from exquisite promptress..(can you imagine spell check does not think that promptress is a word!) Someday I will fall into one of your prompts and write until something happens. The truth is I still feel quite nervous about being around all the “real” writers … I am afraid I just won’t be able to do it correctly. ( I know just write) I will get over that – it is just going to take a while. Thank for you comments and patience with my whining. So much for leaving inspiring comments. 🙂 Have a great weekend my friend!
margo roby
27/04/2012 at 1:32 pm
Ooooh! Love promptress [the dictionary has no imagination]! Try falling into the prompts with no thought of posting, just for yourself. If you take the pressure off, you might surprise yourself. And, you know you can ‘whine’ at me anytime [although that isn’t how I see it :-)].
May your weekend be peaceful –m
Bonnee
24/04/2012 at 11:15 pm
This is sweet, lovely 🙂
margo roby
25/04/2012 at 8:34 am
Thank you, Bonnee!
Hannah Gosselin
24/04/2012 at 11:19 pm
Love your second line in this haiku! And I too, love my first cup so much!! Smiles to you, Margo!
margo roby
25/04/2012 at 8:35 am
And to you, Hannah! Thank you 🙂
irene
25/04/2012 at 9:34 pm
Ahh..coffee. And schmaltzy blends into BBC. Very nice domestic scene, Margo.
margo roby
26/04/2012 at 7:14 am
Thank you, Irene.
Shawna
25/04/2012 at 10:18 pm
“Nestling into her palms” … I love that your coffee cup is as engaged in the relationship as you are. 🙂
margo roby
26/04/2012 at 7:15 am
Thank you, Shawna. That’s one of my favourite images!
Kathy Uyen Nguyen (@alotus_poetry)
26/04/2012 at 2:43 pm
LOVE the haibun, Margo! 🙂 I love the way you titled it because even if a person doesn’t like coffee (like me!), the person can think of another “first cup” like morning tea. 🙂 However, I do love the smell of coffee even if the taste doesn’t sit well with me. There’s always something so comforting, warm and refreshing about the first cup in the morning, eh? Thanks so much for sharing your most beautiful thing, Margo. 🙂 I hope you don’t mind, but I am sharing this on my blog: http://alotus-poetry.livejournal.com
Blessings,
Kathy
margo roby
26/04/2012 at 5:42 pm
How lovely to hear from you, Kathy, and thank you for your comments. I don’t mind at all!
margo 🙂
whimsygizmo
26/04/2012 at 8:44 pm
Beautiful haibun, Margo. This is a form I want to try, when I can poetically breathe again. Breathed some today, though, in thinking about my own most beautiful thing:
margo roby
27/04/2012 at 7:41 am
Once I decided it was the only form to work, it was easy, de. I love the form.