The Whiskey Taster’s Flavor Guide

An Abridged Story of Wine

An Abridged Story of Wine 
The bottom of the nave used to be a lake’s bed, but one night, 
when moon was white as search light and the sky maroon, 
the lake vanished. Dead fish and toenail clippings at the bottom, 
but the soil was rich, and the people who used to fish for a living, 
planted vine which bore healthy grapes, but grapes fermented 
and wine was discovered. A drink that made them merry, they 
sang, slapped flat stones together and made music. 
But if drinking too much they ended fighting and used stones as 
missiles, and given to arguing about the quality of snow that fell 
the year before. In clay pots they sold red wine and became rich, 
till Moslems came, forbad the making of wine, they planted pale 
yellow orange trees instead.  But the juice of sweet blue grapes 
has an unstoppable allure it fills heart with music, the production 
was moved to hidden dells in Alentejo. When Arabs, defeated by
Christian hordes, fled; Iberia had abundance of red wine but also 
sugary orange juice.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2012

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Brown Avatar
May 8, 2012 at 12:04 PM
A pleasure to read your poetry today Jan. I will try to come back later this week to read more. I have a spring cold and not up to reading for too long. Have a wonderful week. Love, Carol
Hansen Avatar
May 8, 2012 at 1:45 PM
thank you
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The Whiskey Taster’s Flavor Guide
Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace