As most every human being knows,
There are times when one seems quite morose.
  Be it after midnight
  Or at dawn's early light
Folks require their big caffeine dose.

Coffee is the most preferred form;
Heavy drinkers have become the norm.
  Cups to keep us awake,
  To imbibe with our cake,
Or in winter just for keeping warm.

Yet though coffee is commonly seen,
Our knowledge of it is not keen.
  Before big pots we pour it in,
  Few consider the origin
And just where the coffee has bean.

People think from Columbia it came,
Because we hear Juan Valdez's name.
  But despite the romance,
  Most coffee bean plants
Are from poor countries with much less fame.

Latin America grows a lot
On the mountainside where it is hot.
  Costa Rica for a while
  Has been covered in miles
Of beans waiting for coffee pots.

The farmers are called campesinos,
Who have worked for years harder than we know.
  The beans throughout the land
  Must all be picked by hand.
Does this work make them rich? Well sadly, no.

In terms of an well-traded crop,
The coffee bean's right at the top.
  Second only to oil,
  It's like gold in the soil,
But the cash flow makes a few small stops.

Giant companies make millions of dollars
Brokers and roasters buy diamond collars.
  It's sick how much they profit,
  When the farmers get off it
Just enough to live poorly in squalor.

Yet we cannot be bothered with this
While enjoying our sweet mocha bliss.
  We're just happy to drink
  Without stopping to think
About something that might be amiss.

Coffee-drinkers have cash for their diet,
Starbucks makes money from those who buy it.
  In fact, it would seem
  The trade of picking beans
Helps everyone but those who ply it.