Supper with the PhD
Tag Archives: Alcohol
PATRICIA AT NINETY
PATRICIA AT NINETY
Patricia Fiske
has just passed ninety
on the way to a hundred with her foot still on the gas
sometimes
with a little help
from some premium ninety octane in a glass
let’s all raise one to her today
THE DEATH OF A THOUSAND CUPS
THE DEATH OF A THOUSAND CUPS
Some die by inches, some by ounces
Little by little he sank below the surface
Each meeting less and less of him there
– a discussion without a quorum
It’s been a few months now
and he hasn’t appeared in dreams
or haunting our old haunts
It was so long
since he knew he was alive
he may not yet know that he is dead
LEFT BEHIND ON THE CONCORDE
LEFT BEHIND ON THE CONCORDE
You get to DC an hour and a half before you leave London
and Rod and I talked most of the way
Maybe it was the ‘69 Dom Perignon
they poured as soon as you took your seat
or the Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Pouilly-Fuisse
they served all through the meal
I do remember there were Arabs in
flowing white, and Burgess Meredith the movie star
and I showed the pretty brunette
my pilots license and got invited to the cockpit
where the pilots greeted me as brothers
even though the fastest thing I’d ever flown
was and Aero Commander 680E
Maybe it was the Taylor’s Special Reserve
twenty year old port they served with
the Cuban cigars (it was 1978 after all)
Maybe it was going more than twice the speed of sound
but I can’t remember a damn thing that either of us said.
BEER PARLOR 2 THE DARK SIDE
BEER PARLOR 2 THE DARK SIDE
Inside all is sound and fury
old friends catching up
a tough week sliding away
drop by drop
Outside, son or daughter
watches the door
every time it opens it’s him
but it isn’t
With every neighbor going in
sending a mounting plea
“What about me”
THE BEER PARLOR
THE BEER PARLOR
Politics and weather
Little round seated chairs
no-one could have sat on
ten minutes completely sober
Little round tables
completely covered at last call
fluted glasses perfectly filled
to the well marked tide line
(no charging for foam here)
Smell of well aged
beer, barf and barn boots
but no matter, it was men only
and they didn’t seem to care
In the service of progress I guess
it was decided by the province
that each town could vote
on women being allowed
to enter these sacred halls
George, the owner,
a man of steady habits
and unshakable prejudices
thinly disguised as principles
said “If you vote for this I close the place”
They did, and he did
GUINNESS LIMERICK
IN VINO VERITAS
IN GUINNESS LIMERICK
Tis a lovely thing the Limerick
And a pint of Guinness helps it stick
But sad their magic is fickle
And though a little may tickle
Sure and too much of either’ll make you sick
SUPPER WITH THE PhD
SUPPER WITH THE PhD
I sit across from my friend
and watch as he drowns
his well developed brain
Every day after work
he puts another million
brain cell kittens in a sack
and takes them to the lake
It is not for me to judge
This small death each day
may well have kept him from
the larger choice his father made
And a diminished capacity may help
when listening to the daily news
or hanging out with poets
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AFTER THE CHRISTMAS PARTY
AFTER THE CHRISTMAS PARTY
Antifreeze or whisky
too much or too little
and you’re in trouble
This is the scene
that you would see
if the swirling snow
would let you
A young man
in an old Fork truck
heading West at
three miles an hour
Driver’s window open
arm extended full length
Mittened hand holding
twelve volt spotlight
beam groping the ridge
along the gravelled lane
Two feet from death on one side
ten on the other, and happy
DRIVING ON THE TRACKS
DRIVING ON THE TRACKS
I think you are supposed
to take some air out
of the tires
It wasn’t something
that we thought about
gliding across the prairie night
with no one needing to steer
and lots of cold beer
and the throttle
(they had throttles then)
set at forty miles per hour
It is something we would
probably have thought about
going across the old wooden trestle
that and the freights that run at all hours
Except that we were too busy
holding back our friend in the back
almost as strong as the three of us
in his full blown panic
Trying to leap
over the front seat
to grab the quivering wheel
to save himself, and kill us all