I go to the corner liquor store
for a bottle of water, middle
of a hectic day, must get out
of the office, stop making decisions,
quit obsessing does my blue skirt clash
with my hot pink flats; should I get
my mother a caregiver or just put her
in a home, and I pull open the glass
refrigerator door, am confronted
by brands—Arrowhead, Glitter Geyser,
Deer Park, spring, summer, winter water,
and clearly the bosses of bottled water:
Real Water and Smart Water—how different
will they taste? If I drink Smart Water
will I raise my IQ but be less authentic?
If I choose Real Water will I no longer
deny the truth, but will I attract confused,
needy people who’ll take advantage
of my realness by dumping their problems
on me, and will I be too stupid to help them
sort through their murky dilemmas?
I take no chances, buy them both,
sparkling smart, purified real, drain both bottles,
look around to see is anyone watching?
I’m now brilliantly hydrated.
Both real and smart my insides bubble
with compassion and intelligence
as I walk the streets with a new swagger,
knowing the world is mine.
“Bottled Water” by Kim Dower, from Slice of Moon. © Red Hen Press, 2013.
Love it!
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Real. Smart. Poem. Huh? 🙂
I enjoyed (and needed) the levity, but could so relate to her existential debate.
But….what I really want to know is…..who goes to a liquor store to buy water?
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I was thinking of coworkers seeing her enter the liquor store at lunch hour. uh oh
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That was my first question, too!! I didn’t know you could find water in a liquor store. I must not be drinking the smart kind 😉
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I had all the same questions when I stood before the vodka though, lol. Good ole Smirnoff (cheap, reliable, REAL) or sexy smooth Grey Goose (pricey, trendy, SMART). And like her, I usually bought both as well … and walked with that same swagger. 😉 Haha!
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Hahahaha!! That is too funny 🙂
I just bought home-brewed vodka from Wyoming. Does that make me rugged?!?
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Yes. Yes it does.
And brave.
(Did you know back when I was a kid, they called it Moonshine. LOL)
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OMG, I did the same thing with my gin recently. One bottle of Seagram’s, one bottle of Hendrick’s . . . figured it can’t go to waste, and I’m worth it. 😉
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You are!
The trick is to make your first drink top-shelf….then switch to ole reliable, LOL.
Never got to try Hendrick’s (I quit drinking a few years ago), so be sure to have one for me 🙂
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