I'm back to writing a poem every day, whether they stink or not.

Saturday, January 14, 2006

Another Toast

I taught my daughter how to toast.
I showed her how and said, "Here's
to making new friends." She said,
"Here's to sitting in this chair."
We clinked and drank our chocolate down.

It's as good a reason to toast as any.
Are they like prayers sent up
to an empty throne, maybe to a bank
of causes and throaty sentiments?
Does the wine from a roomful of raised
flutes pour down and annoint an icon
by the name "friendship" in the heavens?

Here's to turning the mind to the moment
and saluting whatever you find there;
here's to finding a name for the ghost
that's hauting you now so you can shake
its hand; here's to writing the poem's
penultimate line and feeling the end ahead;
here's to drinking deep and filling the cup again.

1 comment:

Squamish Writers Group said...

Enjoyed this - here's to sitting in this chair. Kids are so literal!


I taught my daughter how to toast,
(I showed her how and) said, "Here's
to making new friends." She said,
"Here's to sitting in this chair."
We clinked and drank our chocolate down.

** great start, thought I'd suggest a delete between the () as it repeats line one.

It's as good a reason to toast as any.
Are they like prayers sent up
to an empty throne, maybe to a bank
of causes and throaty sentiments?
Does the wine from a roomful of raised
flutes pour down and annoint an icon
by the name "friendship" in the heavens?

** Interesting study, would rather see it without the questions.

It's as good a reason to toast as any.
They're like prayers sent up
to an empty throne, maybe to a bank
of causes and throaty sentiments.
Maybe the wine from a roomful of raised
flutes pours down and annoints an icon
by the name "friendship" in the heavens.

-------

Here's to turning the mind to the moment
and saluting whatever you find there;
here's to finding a name for the ghost
that's hauting you now so you can shake
its hand; here's to writing the poem's
penultimate line and feeling the end ahead;
here's to drinking deep and filling the cup again.

** love this ending and when I reached penultimate, I actually felt excited. The close did not disappoint.