CAFFEINE SAYS GRACE

By S.M. Stubbs

Her real name’s Kathleen, a sound 
the baby could not utter, and over time 
she became Caffeine, addicted 
to her own troubles with a pot of cheap 
always on. They sit down to dinner: grace. 
They sit down again: grace. Offering thanks 
to farmhands, truck drivers, stock boys, 
even the corporate enterprise 
whose stickers cover the plastic shells 
the fruits and veggies nest in. She feeds 
the babes, herself, the love of her 
once-upon-a-life. She prays 
to attract God’s indulgence and to thank 
them for their honor, favor, that we 
may live in their grace—here meaning 
clemency, mercy, permission to fail, 
to have failed, to be less than, true more 
and more as time winds forward. 
She’s wound up as she winds down, 
her petitions riding cups of steam 
skyward, dissipating out past 
the limits of our vision. 

A former bar owner, SM Stubbs was born & raised in South Florida. His first book, Learning to Drown (Gunpowder Press), was released in January 2025. Nominated for the Pushcart, Best of the Net and Best American. His work has appeared in Poetry Northwest, Puerto del Sol, Carolina Quarterly, New Ohio Review, Iron Horse Literary Review, The Rumpus and others. More information can be found on his website, smstubbs.com.