Black Poem by C Richard Miles

He asked “Do you want it white or black? ”
“What black? ” I threw his question back:
Black, wild, storm-driven, thundercloud black?
Black, glossy, sheeny, raven-wing black?
Black, hurrying, scurrying, Scarab-beetle black?
Black, spidery, sinister, Mirkwood-cobwebbed black?
Black, tall, proud, ancient-tribed, Nubian Black?
Black, tuneful, ebony, piano-key black?
Black, crotchet-quaver, sing-along black?
Black, muddy, damp, wet, well-bottom black?
Black, concealed, subterranean, cold-cavern black?
Black, anthracite-bright, dug-out, coal-seam black?
Black, dusty, cheeky-chappie, chimney-sweep black?
Black, swollen, livid, bruised-boxer, black-eye black?
Black, scrawling, scribbling, graphite-pencil black?
Black, come-off-on-your hand, newsprint black?
Black, Cluedo, detective, inky-fingerprint black?
Black, grimy, mucky, mudlark-urchin black?
Black, smoky, smudgy, charcoal-crayon black?
Black, buffed, boot-polished, shiny-shoe black?
Black, rough, tough, leather-jacketed, biker black?
Black, icky, sticky, bitumen, road-tar black?
Black, rushing, gushing, flowing, crude-oil black?
Black, deep-space, interstellar, dark-nebula black?
Black, all-consuming, clutching, black-hole black?
Black, moody, glum, depression-filled black?
Black, mournful, cheerless, funless, funereal black?
Black, starless, moonless, midnight black?
Black, chilling, memoryless, Stygian black?
Black, lifeless, nothingness, final-oblivion black?
“No, ” he said, “Your coffee – you want it black? ”
“Yes, ” I answered “Milkless, black-coffee black.”
The coffee came – just dark brown, not black.