There is this thing in Dutch called “elf”. It’s a poem of 11 words in 5 lines. The first line is one word, the second line is two words, the third line is three words, the fourth line is four words and then the fifth line is again one word.

Here are a few elfjes I wrote about coffee.

Mothers

and fathers

need coffee just

like they need each

other

Your

lips taste

like hot coffee

on a cold December

morning

Come

black trumpets!

Enter my bloodstream!

Sing loudly, wake me

up!

Rocks

turn into

waves in mugs.

We dive in every

morning.

Mugs

turn into

towers in sinks.

We demolish them every

night.