Today I Made A Punch

Today I made a punch 

three bottles of red wine and your sister is having another emergency 

12 oz. of fresh lemon juice and it smells like rain even in this inner city 

750 ml of gin that used to be kept in the freezer for a rainy day yeah this is it 

1 oz bitters, one bottle of submarine strength rum

once I misplaced my wallet on Valentine’s Day but the car ahead of me at the drive thru had paid me forward go figure 

half a bottle of brandy or cognac or Cointreau, no one minds no one knows 

tonight we’ll drink this punch 

until we’re happy or oblivious 

and pass whatever cherries we can find still bobbing in the aftermath 

don’t leave the pits on my floor and don’t take them with you 

find a happy medium between death and dancing 

9 oranges but I ate one while juicing

and the peels wound up in the trash not the compost

you can fly yourself into the sun if you love the earth more than me 

I heard there is a better life in the wilderness

filled all the Tupperware with tap water, stuck it in the ice box 

the cubes melt too fast dot com says 

if you are hopeless sit down right here 

and I’ll talk you off the window ledge 

I’m supposed to find a way to make this last ditch effort last

until the morning or we run out of fried chicken  

you’ll also need two cups of sugar melted in holy water 

and six cups of unholy water boiled into a strong tea

as the street lights shake on 

dump this all in a glass jug 

if you are beautiful enough

someone will frost a cake for you

and someone else will feed it to you, slowly

if you’re not beautiful enough for cake

that’s fine, we have none 

just this punch and this music and this wobbly ceiling fan



one bottle of champagne and your father

is alright after all.