Soul Wine

By TropicalSnowstorm

Soul Wine

Today, I bought a bagel from a just-off-the-boat
Asian in one of those one size fits all, cookie cutter strip malls.

Like Imperial era Brits that had not yet developed
the sense to forgo wearing wool overcoats in Africa,
I watch the corporate drones dressed like me walk
across the 85 degree air-warmed black top in their long
sleeves, ties and business suits so they can stand in line
to buy the inferior version of a good none of us need.

For some reason I think of geese that, although they can fly,
are flattened as they waddle across speedways. 
“Evolve or die” the expression goes, and I think
I am possibly witnessing the onset of post mortem rigor. 


“Fancy possum rise, see corn chew soul wine”
proclaims the wisdom from the side of a file cabinet.

The declaration is formed from the random
magnetic words someone stuck there to provide
an outlet for creativity within the confines
of available squares, which is tragically meta in form,
but I find the phrase itself oddly profound and
ponder the existential meaning of “chew soul wine”.

I feel my disguise envelope me so I can walk here unobserved,
the ring on my left hand the only clue to my real identity.
It only matters if people think you are ordinary if you really are,
and pretension of the commonplace is the price of freedom at night.


When I enter the citadel, my costume hits the floor
as Aphrodite welcomes me with a kiss and a smile.

Here, I am free to be myself and study artifacts,
fight zombies, discuss Venice, or just make love
in a sanctuary we built together, which brings to mind
something the Bard wrote about embracing the time to
“Find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in every thing”.

Through this ongoing process of (re)construction
I am free to both be myself, and become better.
That is now my true identity, so whether the world thinks
me a rogue, or a hero, or a bore – I know I am loved.

-- by TropicalSnowstorm, 10/9/2012

Unauthorized Copying Is Prohibited. Ask the author first.
Copyright 2012 TropicalSnowstorm
Published on Friday, October 19, 2012.     Filed under: "Love" and "Graphic Art"
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Comments on "Soul Wine"

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  • Sidanne On Friday, July 14, 2017, Sidanne (29)By person wrote:

    Love this! Favorite lines: "It only matters if people think you are ordinary if you really are, and pretension of the commonplace is the price of freedom at night."

  • TropicalSnowstorm On Saturday, July 15, 2017, TropicalSnowstorm (1703)By person wrote:

    Thanks so much! Scholar

  • Jonas On Wednesday, January 30, 2013, Jonas (720)By person wrote:

    magic as always.

  • worm On Saturday, January 5, 2013, worm (1194)By person wrote:

    ahh, my friend! it is good to be back and to see that some have stood the test of time in this elegant palace of the ethereal arts! as always, I get the feeling that you truly do just write of your experiences and do not care if the masses accept you and knight you with the monicker "poet"... for when you truly are a poet, it matters not what others say... thanks for being real... by the by... I have reached back, into the dark realm, where dead and dying manuscripts finally lay down their battered souls and i have revised "milkweeds and such"... thank you for remembering it! your brother in the art of words... worm

  • dwells On Sunday, December 30, 2012, dwells (4288)By person wrote:

    A keen eye for the significance hidden in ordinary things, well said!

  • PoetessDarkly On Thursday, December 27, 2012, PoetessDarkly (700)By person wrote:

    wonderful pen and congrats to the poem of the day!

  • A former member wrote: Excellent!

  • A former member wrote: So envious! -but increasingly happy for you!

  • Alchemist On Saturday, November 3, 2012, Alchemist (688)By person wrote:

    This too makes me proud to be apart of this site, it screams with meaning and depth and lacks no where in poetic vision, a classic.

  • A former member wrote: Creative common sense...I am loving this piece...brimming with quotable poetry. I feel a touch wiser having read it, which I have a number of times. A poem like this makes me proud to be a part of this site. Excellent stuff...I'd like to see this get more love & more comments....poetry most true.

  • TropicalSnowstorm On Monday, November 5, 2012, TropicalSnowstorm (1703)By person wrote:

    Wow, thanks for the generous compliment! Scholar

  • worm On Sunday, October 28, 2012, worm (1194)By person wrote:

    I see that you have grown quite a bit, my friend... you are worthy! worm...

  • FadedBlues On Friday, October 19, 2012, FadedBlues (2172)By person wrote:

    ...what can be said abt poetry like this, except that it makes us understand why we are drawn, like starving beggars, to this art-form. it has the grace to make us know life, to accept it, to make us cry...

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