An Eighth Shot of Espresso: Coffee and Creativity on Mum's Third Shift

Skullduggery in the back alleys and run down warehouses of the city the rain washes away all evidence of the blood. Life in the shadows is hard you learn to melt away see but not be seen close your ears to the screams and the cries of the devoured. No one judges you for what you have to do to survive. The ones who do come from the moral high ground and would not survive a single night. Your soul is already damned That is cold hard fact. What matters is what you make of your short existence in the limited time you are here. Will you be one of the forgotten?  

I. The years pass on by Put away my childhood dreams marble effigies embox them in vaults of stone and never resurrected. II. "You must study hard graduate, get a good job help the family then think about what you want. That is your duty in life." III. Obedient child strong in intelligence but lacking in wisdom: trade one cage for another from daughter to mother, wife. IV. Lifelong devotion and I will always be there always smiling and never complaining of the insults and the disrespect. V. Then one day it breaks not in the heat of anger but cold clarity "I am better than this and I deserve so much more too!" VI. My soul awakens: there is a wide world out there one for exploring I pack my bags and just go and leave the dead weight behind.

I. Every strategy, scholars excogitate all break it into steps contingents for everything all the bases are covered. II. But when all breaks down go to plan A, B, C, D all the way to Z Then go to double letters and even more if needed. III. No need to panic every response is assured So take a deep breath Alternatives possible and nothing is chaotic. IV. Inevitable: when it all starts to break down plans do not survive are you paralyzed by fear or formulate a new plan?

A world in a drop of rain A microcosm in a pebble hold it in your palm it seems tiny, insignificant perhaps it is a dull colored rock one that lines every seashore and riverbed all over the land. The depths of a baby's eyes as they behold a brand new world see the wonder that is, and once was and what is to come. Unspoiled by the cynicism that arrives as the years take their toll. A sparkle of sunlight that breaks onto the water fleeting and floating here for one moment in time before the clouds roll in and dim that brightness until it is gone. Sometimes the simple pleasures make absolutely no sense to the learned mind and the weary jaded wanderer but remember that it all depends on your point of view.

Many hearts beat to the same drum Never wavering, never changing Then something strange happens: It only takes one second one hesitation, one misstep then the rhythm stutters. Soft at first, it's hardly noticed. Then as the seconds tick on Others fall out of line. The steady cadence stumbles it's no longer dependable it's not what it used to be. Utter chaos reigns as each beat struggles to be heard. Then one grows louder than the rest. It takes the others by the hand and leads them to a new direction charting a path far from the old. More and more join in the music swells more and more into a crescendo overwhelms the old, transforms it. A new and stronger way As long as it lasts until the cycle comes again.