Poetry: The Four Stages of Wine by Jonathan Hayes

The Four Stages of Wine

 

JOCOSE

spirited jolly bacchus seated at table in cenacle

drinking sweet red blood song amongst fellowship

jowl jigging jag bantering jovial jocular

jabberwocky waggeries    jabbing jocund

laughter jestering joyance amusement

enlivening last supper sacrament

 

BELLICOSE

bedlam bastard bedeviled belligerent jupiter

baccivorous baboon belly filled befuddled

barreling barks bah! bah! bah!

eager engagement waging bacchanal battle

truculent beast barging scathing bellows

of backwoods balefire bareknuckling 

basting bane

 

LACHRYMOSE

lethargic lachrymal lazarus raised from

the dead back to beggar’s life and carved

in stone sins    languidly leaning ‘gainst

lamppost bawling langley wails of dirge

la! la! la! weeping lakh morning mournful

lamented lacquered labdanum tears into lagoon

mind marching passion thru labyrinth to the laura

 

COMATOSE

comet eyed comate green man comfy comfrey

collapsed on the floor    imprecise purposely

planked prostration suspended animation 

clubbed bottle over the head dumb coma numb

dormant    calcium cast thoughts thickening

dreamy drunk communion    cloister calm

cremated    stone breathing womb walls of

hollow holy    nothing left to fall only

closure of this comical cabaret

Jonathan Hayes lives in Oakland, California.