reading matter

OK. Maybe I'm not that detail oriented, in some aspects of my life. Because today was the first day that I actually read a Starbucks paper napkin. So I don't know if this poetry has always been printed on them or not. But in case you don't have one (or your politics preclude you from ever succumbing to the temptation of chain lattes) this is what it says (along with a spiraling design):

extract the secrets

of my soul

brewing

mine becomes yours

(I've formatted the indents to reflect the graphic design -- though the words are also curved around the spiral motifs, which I can't replicate here)

I suppose this is the textual equivalent of the abstract art you see in hospitals or corporate buildings -- abstraction works in those settings because you can order it up color-coordinated to your decor, and because you don't run the risk of offending anyone with representational art. (I'm also not against abstract visual art -- I just want to point out the marketplace value of it in today's world.) This is poetry that most people don't even see, or if they do, they pause only briefly and move on.

I'll save a full textual analysis for later.