Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Wine in the bottle

Let us spare ourselves a friendly word
For the finest things that ne'er occurred
For the war and rhyme and infidelity
We dreamt but that weren't meant to be.

To the stories passionately told
Of Cleopatra in her gown of gold,
And dancing girls whose eyes are bold,
Leering at the soft and old.

To important drunkards and their tales
Of success in which the whole world fails
A toast to each, and for each a round
And a turned ear out for every sound.

To fishes caught, the size of manses,
To exotic women and their dances
To daring do done without fear-
Heroic feats I see from here.

I raise my glass and bow my head
To heroic, happy quick and dead
The tree of patriots who fled,
Fertilized with blood unshed

For in our faith and our delusions
We're martyrs made without contusions
The tree of liberty was sappened
With history that never happened.

As one, we'll revel in the pasts
That one day will come true, at last.
The most compelling that make most sense
Are told with nostalgia in future tense.
-Thos. Jefferson

HISTORICAL, adj. Of or pertaining to remembered expectations.

26 comments:

Nessa said...

Historical: Fish stories.

Nessa said...

And wine never stays in the bottle for long. That's why you get fish stories.

Nessa said...

And one more to hog the top three spots - I was first, nah, nah, na, boo, boo.

:)

Jim said...

Nah, nah, boo boo to you too, Nessa! (first time I ever said or wrote anything like that--it's girl talk)

I agree that there are more true tales to be told the more time elapses in ones life. Blogging comes in handy for telling those.

My college roommate always said he would surely die at the hands of a jealous husband before he became age thirty-five.
I've lost track of him but for sure now he isn't saying that anymore.
..

TLP said...

His story, her story, two different things.

"History would be a wonderful thing--if it were only true." Leo Tolstoy

I like the poem.

Nessa said...

No, Jim. That is baby talk. I am incredibly immature.

Your friend must be disappointed.

the amoeba said...

HISTORICAL, adj. A specimen of fossilized spin.

tsduff said...

"Herodotus says, "Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen at all: The conscientious historian will correct these defects."
- Mark Twain - Acknowledgments for A Horse's Tale

Nessa, that is funny.

quilly said...

Today we are doing an hysterical -- no, no, HISTORICAL -- tour of the island. It will only be hysterical if Thom loses another batch of photos.

k. riggs gardner said...

"hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history"

-- Spiro Agnew

Anonymous said...

HISTORICAL, adj. - Gulliver is getting historical accusations thrown at him daily here in Friday Harbor. I did not have sex with that woman!!!!!

quilly said...

Doug -- in regard to Thom -- it was Ella.

Nessa said...

Someone needs adult supervision. Where's Amoeba?

k. riggs gardner said...

If I get one more e-mail from Nessa, I'm going to shoot Amoeba.

Nessa said...

k.a.gardner:

Not sure why you would take your frustrations out on a poor one-celled protozoa especially since I am not emailing you anything. Your aim seems misplaced.

k. riggs gardner said...

I would assume so actonbell. We all have eyes. Some of us can even read.

Oh. Wait a minute ...

I forgot to tell you I had two Kirin Lights with dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~ 2 ~~~~~~~~~~

TLP said...

Yeah, Acton, it wasn't green this morning when I first was here. And I'm not drinking either.

TLP said...

Ah! I'm so slow! The green title is now a link to a poetry site.

Jim said...

K.A, did you have sushi for dinner with your Kirin Lights? I hear those two items go together well.
Myself, I'll have a Shiner Blonde (Texas beer) and an oyster poboy (pre-BP or BP-free).
..
Actually we settled for tortilla soup and a turkey sandwich and fries with ice tea from Chili's.
..

cooper said...

historical: yesterday's unrestrained laughter.


Nice poem.

Ariel the Thief said...

I don't drink wine that looks like that. Actonbell, pass me a beer! Thanks! :)

Anonymous said...

Atta girl Nessa

Nessa said...

I vote for green margaritas or sour appletinis and jazzy dancing girls.

Doug The Una said...

Nessa, we who blog seem to like our glories portable.

Jim, I used to say I couldn't see the value in living longer than Jesus did on Earth. I've had almost a decade to consider it, and I'm sticking with my original opinion. Incidentally, Justice Thurgood Marshall used to say he expected to die at 100, shot in the butt by a jealous husband. Now there's ambition!

TLP, I like the quote.

Nessa, those of us with that particular ambition never quite get over the disappointment.

Amoeba, that's perfect. Well, for the noun.

Actonbell, Yogi Berra is the perfect example. Everything he said, whether he said it or not, is remembered for the wrongness of it.

Terry, that's a great quote.

Quilly, I'm pretty comfortable it was hysterical regardless.

Karen, I'm told William Safire and Pat Buchanan wrote most of Agnew's alliterations for him.

Thom, keep denying that story and maybe the more embarrassing truths won't come up.

But, Quilly, he insults her. Men don't sport with women they'll insult, do they?

Nessa, Amoeba would have been right on it if Thom had been underfunding basic science instead.

Karen, I didn't realize you two were pen pals.

Ammo's cheap, Nessa.

Haha, Actonbell. So, I borrowed a couple lines from the poem Jazzonia, for today's verse. Not for plagiarism but because I thought they fit. So I made the title link to that for disclosure's sake which turned it green. There's always a perfectly good explanation. Or alcohol.

Karen, not all of us can read humor, though.

Right, TLP!

The Jim bunch knows how to eat.

I like it, Cooper. History is a joke we no longer get.

Ariel, you know I can't learn the Hungarian for "cheers!" But I wish it to you.

Thom, should we do the wave?

Nessa, I vote for warm milk and flying sheep.

Ariel the Thief said...

I KNEW I know those girls from somewhere!!

PANSI!!!!! said...

Tx for the Memry's, Mr. Dog!!!!!
Kiss Kiss!!!!!