Wine

 

“Toast of Wine” by Robert Smith

 

 

salubrious nectar
borrowed from gods
mortal palates enrapt
by intoxicant opulent
flavors diverse as the
fruits of the earth and
the inklings of tongues

it cultivates taste
ennobling man’s meal
improves his society
for he failed of friends
it enriches his solitude
dangers lie not in the
grape but arithmetic

sensible minds know
too much of a good is
a bad and that’s twice
true for red wine whose
hangover quotient runs
off the distress scale a
fact Italians learn young

 

 

From my book Onionskin