Embittered and Inebriated and Soured

By Aeriel Holman

Bedridden with bile on the taste buds,

Washing it away with lemon and lime and salt

Saltines and 7-Up can cure cancer

And coincidentally anything in between.

Happy Birthday to me, I thought

—thinking about being out drinking—

A wasted day of 21st birth got worse.

I was told premature plans

Of your pretty, but petty proposal,

And I prophesized—appropriately—

The answer before the proclamation.

Sick to the stomach and ill inside, that’s

How I lost you—all before you knew too.

At least now I can drink my sorrow legally,

Wash it away with lemon and lime and salt.

By Aeriel Holman