When our office switched from recyclable
cups to sustainable mugs my boss

said she never pours tea into coffee
mugs because coffee was a thoughtless

guest who never, really, leaves, like
there’s always one sock left under

the couch to be found six months later.
I shrugged because I’d never found so

much as a quarter beneath the cushions.

Jesus, too, warned against pouring new
wine into old wine skins lest they burst

and stain the carpet but my coffee
mug has never