Love Hangover

What nourishes me will destroy me is my favorite Oscar Wilde quote and most famously tatooed on Angelina Jolie's stomach, it's the truth. One of my friends used to say, What I love always bites me in the ass, an interesting paraphrase. The important thing in life I think is not to flinch, no matter what the cost of whatever you want is. Of course, it's okay to hide your eyes once every now and then.

Given the nature of drinking, there's always the hard reality of the morning after the proverbial one too many, a line that's way too easy to cross over without half-trying. One of my old students and friends, Lee (who also has a great blog --http://through-the-wine.blogspot.com/), suggested I do a hangover cure to counteract the spells. I couldn't agree more.

Michelle's Spell of the Day

"I spend half my life apologizing for things I've done and the other half doing things I need to apologize for." Danny Bonaduce

Ultimate Hangover Cure

2 oz. blended whiskey
1/2 egg white
1/2 oz. lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 Pernod
Iced club soda

Mix all of the ingredients together (except the club soda) and shake. Pour into a glass of soda and ice.

Benedictions and Maledictions

First published in Poetry Motel:

Emergency

We were both looking at our hands when an epileptic
named Lawrence jumped
off the high dive and had a seizure, hitting his head on
the side of the board.
Ben dropped his cards and ran for the backboard,
knocking down
the chlorine canister we’d been using for a table, cards
all over the cement in his wake.

I’d had sex for the first time two days before, not
thinking
there would be anything more frightening happening
soon, not
wanting to see that person ever again. Calling the
ambulance
from the only pay phone, hands shaking, I said,
We have a possible spinal injury, watching the other
guards
put Lawrence on the backboard, remembering training,
pulling a weighted dummy from the deep end. Pretend
you don’t know what happened, the instructor told us.

After it was over, nobody looked each other in the eye
as we mopped
the blood from the cement. I picked up the cards and
put them in the desk drawer,
not wanting to play any more games that day. You’ll get
used to it, Ben said,
as he set the chlorine canister upright. When it was my
turn on stand,
I closed my eyes for a minute behind sunglasses,
listening, unable to tell the difference
between the yells of the kids having fun and the ones
needing help.