Tonight's Poet Corner: Crisis Averted
Crisis Averted by Belinda Roddie Crisis averted - for now. Enough time to celebrate with a flask and flagon, and enough stained spoons to boom out a boozehound drum solo. We're a to z okay - for now. Drink with me, friend, until three months slither by on their bloated bellies, and we're back to square one when we've barely played hopscotch. Leave enough chalk dust between my cigarette fingers and my beer thumb, and I'll draw an Ash Wednesday cross on ye, to celebrate a purge of sympathy. Because twenty-four billion Washingtons emerged from the foam for a stein, friend. Twenty-four billion chances at a bottle of water or half a sandwich for a preschool kid. A food stamp or a drop of milk. An orange peel and a sense of worth. Save money, they say, while loosening their belts enough to let the green slip from loose and cowardly bowels. They should drink, too, so they can forget and bring us to the brink again. But we're okay - for now...