How To Change Your Relationship With Alcohol

A Matter of Positioning

suck down

the stories

of women

who overcame

with the same voraciousness

you used

to suck down

shiraz

on a thursday night

---

consume

literature

that animates

the unlived life

bubbling up

in your breast

with the same enthusiasm

you used

to consume

champagne

at sunday brunch

---

sharpen

your senses

to what already exists

with the same broadening

you used

to come alive

at the thought

of a popped cork

before 4 pm

---

wrap

the flesh of your fingers

around a pen

with the same

desperation

you used

to grip

the stem of a wine glass

that night

you realized

this wasn’t

the life

you signed up for

---

swirl

the suede

of small moments

in the cup

of your heart

with the same relish

you used

to swirl

the velvet

of a pinot noir

around a table

of shadows

---

close

your eyes

and savor the aroma

of snow-drenched earth

in january

with the same intensity

you used

to inhale

fumes of merlot

in Napa

that summer

you lost

. . . to it

---

channel

your thirst

for “finer things”

into

a quest

for hidden things

that tell stories

of a woman

who’s

. . . become . . .