Tonight's Poet Corner: And Then They Emptied Their Steins
And Then They Emptied Their Steins by Belinda Roddie Let's make a compromise to never drink warm beer by candlelight, to refrain from singing after six PM, to pray for rain when lightning sets the dry high grasses aflame outside. We'll put aside misguided attempts to seek out ghosts when it gets cold. We'll dip our fingers in hot oil and let the burns tattoo the dirty parts of our cuticles. We'll feel the lashes of fiery winds, gray with ash, in the middle of May. Our tongues are parched on holy water. No alcoholic suds will loosen our mouths so we lapse back into carefree conversations. Because we are rational human beings: Only capable of crying when it stings. Only laughing when the joke's gone too far. Only finally feeling the pain after our skin's been stripped away.