José-Ariel Cuevas: Sweet Lady Añejo (poem)

tequiladrinksI stare at my third tumbler full of tequila,

looking at it like I did the other two,

with reverence at this golden,

earth-bound ambrosia,

aged a year or more in old whiskey barrels…

That is, I stare at it like I stare

at the most beautiful women in the world,

while my friends see a whore in clear heels.

My friends’ bodies shudder, convulse

at the first whiff of this agave elixir,

as many nights of drunken lapses of judgment

all come back, all at once.

Sweet lady añejo has never done me wrong,

and she’s all right by me.

 

Republished by permission of BayAreaButchers. All rights reserved. Photo by Malik Ringcamp.