This morning

Herman Sutter

June 7, 2026

I made that coffee you bought

thick scented, slow, dark

strong

and I sat in the kitchen

with the radio on

listening to the world,

waiting for the first cup

I made my lunch

washed a glass

leftover from dinner

and put things away

then finally impatiently 

stole a cup from the still 

dripping pot. Hissing 

in delight. And burning

my lips with the first 

sip.

Thank you.

Herman Sutter (award winning poet/playwright/essayist) is the author of two chapbooks: Stations (Wiseblood Books), and The World Before Grace (Wings Press), as well as “The Sorrowful Mystery of Racism,” St. Anthony Messenger. His work appears in: The Perch, The Ekphrastic Review, The Langdon Review, Touchstone, The Merton Journal, as well as: Texas Poetry Calendar (2021) & By the Light of a Neon Moon (Madville Press, 2019). His recent manuscript A Theology of Need was long listed for the Sexton prize.