Previous Story
LITERARY NOOK
April is Alcohol Awareness Month
Each April since 1987, the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence, Inc. has sponsored Alcohol Awareness Month to “increase public awareness and understanding, reduce stigma and encourage local communities to focus on alcoholism and alcohol-related issues.”
William Oldys, born in 1696 and died April 15, 1761, was an English poet, bibliographer, and antiquarian known to be fastidious in his lifelong task of recording historical data. Biographies of his time state he drank large amounts of alcohol. My surmise is the cup he talks about in the poem contained alcohol. I have appropriated a great deal of his rhyme scheme and the sonnet form he used in my sonnet. These two poems form a call and response from the 18th to the 21st century. They were published together in the Saipan Tribune several years ago. They pay homage to both National Poetry Month and Alcohol Awareness Month.
William Oldys: On a Fly Drinking Out of His Cup
Busy, curious, thirsty fly!
Drink with me and drink as I:
Freely welcome to my cup,
Couldst thou sip and sup it up:
Make the most of life you may,
Life is short and wears away.
Both alike are mine and thine
Hastening quick to their decline:
Thine’s a summer, mine’s no more,
Though repeated to threescore.
Threescore summers, when they’re gone,
Will appear as short as one!
J. Connolly: On a Guy Drinking Out of His Mind
Boozing, serious, thirsty barfly!
Drunk like me; here’s mud in your eye:
Spilling shots from a paper cup,
Cans and bottles just sucking em up.
Drinking throughout the rest of the day,
Your life getting shorter – wasting away.
Cheap shots of whisky, beer and wine
Hasten us both to a quick decline:
First we sing, then we’re a bore,
Round after round, calling out for more.
Your ‘happy hour’ has come and gone,
Passing out on your way back to the john.
***
Joey aka Pepe Batbon Connolly is a retired educator who taught in the CNMI, NOLA, and LVNV. He is a sonnet practitioner who enjoys stargazing.
