A Toast to Bop By Christopher Cavallo

In Memoriam: Anthony Cavallo

Grandpa Bop

liked his nip

and handled it well,

near as I could tell.

I mean for a soul

like Tony Cavallo

alcohol was a pleasure

not only of the hearth

and the heart, but also one

for the mouth and the mind.

I’m told he made dandelion wine,

a recipe we still can’t find,

and savored his Chivas

in some highball glass,

or earth-ware jug he held by his thumbs

—beside family or with friends—

such as those pals 

with whom he hid his booze:

Yes, in icy spring waters

of New Hampshire’s

hills, before the state put a thoroughfare

down the middle of Mother Nature,

Tony and crew

kept a bottle or two

well-preserved—

and well hid.

So just this once—

whether you choose

to imbibe alcohol

once in a while

or like as any other take

ne’er do tip a wink—

lift for our Bop and all his kin your glass;

just be sure not to spare even a drop of class!

Christopher Cavallo is a writer living and working in the Merrimack Valley region of Massachusetts. He and his wife Amy make their home in Haverhill, MA, sharing all their love with two gorgeous and adopted ‘faun’ greyhounds, Phoebe and Caliope.