Decaf Me

First time in Korea
I would hunt high and low
For decaf coffee.
Everywhere they’d stare,
Their brows crinkling a mixture:
Pity and anger,
Raising fingers crossed,
Dark X of non-existence.
These U.S. tourists.

Finally, after
Multiple failures I’d find
A Starbucks oasis.
Post-pandemic I
Return, chance fortune again.
Decaf’s now everywhere.

If Korea was
A tough hunt, let me tell you,
Egypt, silent sphynx,
Brought me to my knees,
Starbucks unheard of ever,
Decaf a foreign word.

Then, driving eons,
Endless desert, massive stone
Mountains, baking heat,
I see shimmering
Up ahead a lone rest stop.
Is it?  Yes, it’s real:
One gas station, one
Clean restroom, and one Coffee
Bean and Tea Leaf shop,
Possibly the one
Place in all of Egypt where
Decaf coffee is sold.

Friends ask why I would 
Bother with coffee at all,
Caffeine the only
Reason to drink it.
Clearly, they don’t know how I 
Welcome a challenge.