Triple Distilled By Cherie Rankin

There isn't much 

poetry in pure desire,

little in the way of nuance.

It's too strong, proof too high--

hot in the throat

burning as you swallow,

like a shot of whisky

all the way down.

Not much mystery, 

spare in subtlety

a shot glass of blind bravery,

chaser of small odds mixed

With a fiery dose of hope.

You bang your glass on the bar and

demand another and another,

till you feel woozy and light--

stumbling buzzy and warm

into a familiar set of arms

you know will catch and hold.

Cherie Rankin is a professor of English at Heartland Community College, in Normal, Illinois; she lives 45 minutes southwest of Normal... Her work has been published in Dragon Poet Review, Labor: Studies in Working Class History, and Poetry Breakfast.