THE BENDS

for PS

First, you get really, startlingly tired.
You should find some other food source.

Weight loss. I simply didn't dream.
The thing I missed most was the fizz.

I usually drink a lot of water and juice
to help me deal with life.

After three drinks you lose control.
After four drinks you lose count.

I believed I had a broken record
in my head. A very mild, yellow hue.

It all depends on what a biopsy says.
I get a tingling sensation over my body.

I left the country for a year.
I had a bad temper. My gambling increased.

TRUE STORY

My friend works with alcoholics

and the alcoholics

calculate their drinking in bottles.

My father tells me I drink too much.

I opened a bottle of wine,

in my suburban estate,

for a Scandinavian family from the city.

My father drank every night of the week.

Whiskey. Rum and Coke. A Daiquiri.

My father never told me I drink too much.

A bottle of Lightning. Bells.

                                                                                       

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

Morning is cracked like an egg: bust-yolk/
thick head. Coming up marmalade
spread over crisp brown toast and pancakes
drowning in honey. I am deaf
to alarms bleating time to get up and lost
on a wave of syrup thick booze.
This is my breakfast of champions
for winners. I raise the can like a trophy
and catch sun-rays in a gold-plated mouth.