1.28.2007

Dirty Martini

Extra olive juice
Makes the drink dirty
My excuse
For being extra flirty

A dirty martini
Simple and complicated
A bikini
Its appeal calculated

Shaken or stirred
Is irrelevant
Dirty is preferred
My experiment

A researcher charting
Cause and effect
Control and sobriety parting
The buzz perfect

How many sips
Does it take
For an eclipse
My shadow self wakes

Absinthe*

Absinthe is illegal
In the United States
Restriction is banal
The green fairy great
That is my rationale
For the unreasonable mandate
I refuse to pay attention
To the rules of convention

*A green liqueur having a bitter anise or licorice flavor and a high alcohol content, prepared from absinthe and other herbs, and now prohibited in many countries because of its toxicity. Known to some as the 'green fairy.'

Note to reader: I have attempted to write the above verse in an open form of poetry called ottava rima. Ottava Rima is defined as a stanza of eight lines of verse with the rhyme scheme abababcc. Technically, to be a true example of the form, each line should be written in iambic pentameter.

1.20.2007

Johnnie Walker Black: A Rubai*

Johnnie makes me mean
A bitchy queen
Vicious in public
An open flame licking gasoline

Speaking my mind
Unfortunately unkind
My words hurt
Delivered, sealed and signed

I like him straight
Cornering fate
Good behavior makes dull memories
Wicked times await

Scotch whiskey works quickly
Few would disagree
Johnnie does his job well
Setting drinkers free

He does not lie
No need to falsify
The truth lives in every bottle
To this, I testify

*Ruba'iyat or rubaiyat (Arabic: رباعیات) (a plural word derived from the root meaning 'four') means "quatrains" in the Persian language. Singular: ruba'i (rubai, ruba'ee, rubayi, rubayee). The rhyme scheme is AABA, i.e., lines 1, 2 and 4 rhyme.
This verse form was popularized in
Edward FitzGerald's translation of the collection of Persian verses known as the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. In fact, Rubaiyat is a common shorthand name for this collection.

1.15.2007

Guinness

Dark as a starless night
Just as unexpected
A pint of Guinness is a delight
My muse and I--connected

Irish stout
Fantastic
No doubt
Drastic

The drink has bite
A rough lover
Don't fight
Discover

Guinness is freedom
Release
From who I've become
Peace

1.01.2007

Bloody Mary (New Years Day)

Note to reader: This poem was originally supposed to be a 'sestina', which is a six stanza, unrhymed form used by troubadours and made popular by the German poets in the 17th century. Anyway...I fucked it up. This is not a sestina. I'm not really sure what it is.

Stirring my bloody mary
With a thick stalk
Of celery
I make breakfast for my family
Muffins and eggs
My diet forsaken

My oldest son demands bacon
Asking for a sip of my bloody mary
My youngest holds on to my leg
My husband and I talk
Resolutions expressed shyly
Pretty lies our commentary

Our guarantees
Awaken
Frozen dreams, chilly
Our life on this prairie
Solid as rock
Different as nutmeg

Why renege?
With an existence so very
Secure...a rock
I sprinkle some cayenne
In my bloody mary
I need some more vodka really

My drink makes me silly
I nibble on eggs
Sip my disappearing mary
A new years query
Leaves me taken
Too much double talk

I'd like to take a walk
Our whole family
It's too cold--godforsaken
My baby still holds onto my leg
Suburban scenery
This moment legendary