as orange blossom, a beloved’s kiss shaken
with cream over cold brew.
As flavor, listed right after vanilla,
caramel, chocolate, lavender.

I contemplate
ordering my coffee habibi
then do. Curiosity outweighs
my bewilderment over western
proprietization.

In Sausalito, the whiteness layers
over my upper lip.
The orange extract cloying
my nostrils. I can’t help but season
each sip political.

حیببي
each time you leave my mouth,
return to it a fresh sound.
Sunlight filtering through California
dust, not anybody’s spectacle.

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