The End of August hammered rocks in the night
It rattled chains and moaned and wore a sheet
It crept closer until it thumped on my foyer at dawn
I rose from the bed and feigned fear
As Autumn ground against the glass of my door

The silver thermos loomed tall on the counter
A warning monument to big stick diplomacy
Something inside sloshed as I raised it
A time capsule thick with ancient stimulants
Cracked open punctually, way too god damn early

It took clenched teeth and Eastwood eyes
To scare the stopper into twisting out
So I might behold the life inside
Evolving in this sealed coffee ecosystem
I feared for a vengeful, pestilent jungle

After a masked hour of scrubbing and scouring
With bleach and steel and lye and violent instinct
I destroyed the final stains with a blast from the garden hose
The thermos was purged and ready
To fill with the burning hair of the dog that bit me
As Autumn ground against the glass of my door