Poems At Port Trakl Part One

DAILY WINE For early morning there's always Sangria, what's left over from yesterday. the fruits all dissolved, imparting an even sweetness to the tall glass. At noon, I will drink four medium-sized glasses of Zinfandel, as I watch the sun shine through the bottle, yellow filtering red, a hybrid color suggesting wholeness, repose. 'Another glass, please.' In late afternoon, after walking along the shoreline, and watching land and sea exchange places, again and again, in the trembling air, I will share conversation and Tawny Port with whatever friend lounges in the bar. We drink strong black coffee in between bottles of wine to keep us focused on whatever topic we choose... to stave off the boredom of continuous intoxication. Suddenly, darkness contains me! I must have dozed off. For how long? No matter: it is surely time for Burgundy.The rest of the night belongs to Burgundy. It will squelch whatever stuff floats up from within and swims before my idle eyes. TWO RESOLUTIONS FIRST I have made a resolution, my friend, wrote it on the back of this shipping schedule. And I want you to witness it. 'I, an ancient citizen of Port Trakl, swear to write only the truth, from this hour forward. No more rhapsodies and praise-songs, no more Love Epics addressed to absent women, no more honeyed words packed into fat lines of verse. All this I abjure from this hour forth.' Well, we know what to expect next: I will sink into a corner of a warehouse somewhere in Port Trakl. If you find me in a couple of days, ask me how I feel about the NEW ME.... SECOND 'Stop talking nonsense, sailor. Do as you will, just don't blame us at Port Trakl.' IN VINO VERITAS Hasn't every drunkard spoken those words, lodged in his overheated brain? What does it really mean? That whatever my intoxicated voice says is true? That no lie can slip past my lips as long as stupor crushes my mind? Does it mean I am only a puppet, dangling from the chord of Fate? Or am I a displaced puppet master, capable of doing great things? Let me think... No, first I will sample the shipment of new wines from faraway Hungary. After that....