People ask me, "Why is your poetry blog called "An Eighth Shot of Espresso?" The answer to that is, "It's a long running joke." Eight shots of espresso is a bit much, even for a coffee drinker like myself. According to the FDA, the maximum amount of caffeine a person can safely drink is about 400 milligrams. That's about 4 shots of espresso or 4 cups of coffee a day. So eight would definitely land you in trouble. So...why eight? I point out the byline is "Coffee and Creativity on Mom's Third Shift". When I was teaching middle school (7th grade), I drank a lot of coffee from the teacher's lounge. Not great quality, but it kept me going. That was my first shift. Motherhood became my second shift, and my writing became third shift, late at night, when everyone was asleep. Admittedly, my coffee habit was pretty bad during those days. It wasn't until much later that I cut back on it for health reason, but I haven't stopped. I usua...