Drinking

Remember that time before the open mic
We went to the pizza place in the Village
The one on the corner of your block?
Mine the regular slice
And yours with fried eggplant on top

We bought two beers
Brown paper bagged, we guzzled
As we walked city streets
Our precious guitars in our other hands
We giggled like misbehaving schoolgirls

And how about that Passover
When I came to visit
And all you had in the house was Manishewitz wine?
The sweetest, most vile tasting concoction
But still, we drank and laughed
As though it were the finest Bordeaux

I usually called you a "Merlot Ho"
And I was a White Zinfandel aficionado
We enjoyed our bottles of wine
When you made me birthday dinner one year
Complete with chocolate cake
And read to me from your journal
About your trip to Nepal
Later, we watched Absolutely Fabulous
And I loved hearing you laugh
Whenever drunken Patsy keeled over

Now that you live in Atlanta
I have no more than a couple of beers a year
And a glass of wine is reserved
For special occasions

But whenever you were near
I would drink you in
And you always made me giddy

April 5, 2007