Death’s Door By Jim Kangas

Looking through gins at the local liquor store

I found one from Wisconsin called Death’s Door.

From Door County. I’d read that its herbals are

juniper, coriander and fennel. Death’s Door

I thought a fine name and I love fennel, and since

I’ve been on a slippery slope to death’s door

what with afib and two badly leaking heart valves,

I thought I’d give it a try. Indeed, Death’s Door   

did not disappoint. With tonic and lime it tasted

like god nectar. My cousin P entered death’s door

after drinking too much of 100 proof something.      

Her marriage had slipped through death’s door,

I guess, from some unhappy strife unknown to me. 

We were very chummy as kids. Death’s door

was barely a blip on the horizon then. Now I feel

my toes at the worn doorsill of failing breath.   

Jim Kangas spent his early years growing roots in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and most of his life as a librarian. His work has appeared in Blue Unicorn, The Iconoclast, New York Quarterly, Rye Whiskey Review, Yemassee, et al. His chapbook, Breath of Eden (Sibling Rivalry Press), was published in 2019.