Vinegar

I have done something wrong
I know for my cheeks are the color of those roses
this wine these oils and fresh breads
I have done something wrong
I know for my eyes have begun to sag like saphire lily pads
and the shadows on my neck could rise up
and cloud the sky in darkness
I have done something wrong
I know for my lips are pursed and stitched
into tiny tulip buds
My shoulders have stiffened themselves like smokestacks
I have done something wrong
I know ths because I cannot look you in the eyes
I cannot watch your stern eyebrows
turned up like curled ribbon
and the lines upon your forehead
could leap up and circle my body twice
I know your lips are dipped in this tobacco spitting pose
and your nose your nose
twisted like knotted pantyhose
How can we dance
How can we begin to dance
When I hold this vinegar bottle inside my chest
and anytime I move
this liquid swishes it crashes it sickens my throat
And if we dance
this bottle might break
raking shards of glass upon my insides
and oh how it would smell it would smell
I have done something wrong
I know this for these roses have begun to droop
these oils have begun to stink
these breads have grown stale
and this wine this wine is just fine
how it has ripened so I drink I drink I drink

- jennswann