Partners by Penelope Moffet

Two wide-mouthed mugs
the color of coffee lightened with cream,
shaped to welcome cappuccino or latte,
purchased years ago from their maker,
Mary Swann. Her loopy signature
sprawls across their undersides,
these wide-hipped mugs
I bought to share
with my next love
late Sunday mornings.
Then he didn’t like coffee.
The mugs nest in the cupboard
face-down until in early morning dark
I pull one out for espresso, nutcream
frothed and steamed and sprinkled with cinnamon
the same orange-brown as the clay.
Each has a tiny chip on its lip.
They sleep together
all night long.

Penelope Moffet is the author of three chapbooks, most recently Cauldron of Hisses (Arroyo Seco Press, 2022). Her poems have been published in The Missouri Review, One by Jacar Press, Natural Bridge, Permafrost, Gleam, Rise Up Review, The Sow’s Ear Poetry Review, The Ekphrastic Review, Gyroscope and other literary journals.