I Drink Just Enough*

I drink just enough rum
To keep a trace
In my bloodstream.
My connection to the pirate
With one foot in the skiff
And the other in the saturated sand
Of an uncharted beach.

I drink just enough beer

To own foolish sweatshirts
And know the scores
Of last Sunday’s game.
Just enough to remember
The last lie I told
And the last truth I believed.

I drink just enough wine

To be thought noble
A gentleman with exquisite taste
A sly grin that implies more
Than it should
Accompanied by a knock-off Rolex
And a private jet
Parked on nobodies tarmac.

I drink just enough whiskey

To spin my heart
Into remastered memories
Washing love away
In an alcoholic haze
In a redesigned outcome
Of heat and ice
Like that which melts steel
Into new patterns
Then forges it in impossible chill.

I swallow just enough tears

To school my wayward heart
Into the newly minted class
Of survivors
Of dedicated skeptics
Challenging the claims of soft words
And tender arms.

I drink just enough

To say I drink
And little enough to say
I never touch the stuff.

 

*For the record, I am a tea-totaler. Whatever that is. (Wink!)