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A fly died in my glass of wine
I have half a mind to ask Google or chat what prophecy this portends.But first...The wine was a 2019 Pinot Noir Rosé, Clos Griotte, a wine I discovered at Muse, a small wine shop off Northwest 23rd. I went there to meet a friend, a woman a decade younger but shaped like me by Boy George, Sasson, Bonnie Bell, and MTV. A time when we danced our nights away, blissfully unaware of the guardrails holding us upright.I sometimes wish she had been my college roommate. The one I was assigned was cut from a different cloth. Early in the semester, I invited the entire hall to watch on her portable black and white TV, the Movie of the Week, The Graduate. She walked out after Benjamin’s opening scene, announcing to the room that she didn’t “get it.”My new friend, sharing the wine with me, feels like home. Her voice carries the same familiar lilt and cadence as my dad’s, pronouncing ‘car keys’ like ‘khakis’. And like my dad, she can hold my attention with her tales of growing up on a tiny, jagged island in the middle of the Atlantic- not too far away from the one where my father was raised, slightly north, about five thousand miles.Making a new friend comes differently now. Giddy excitement gives way to cautious anticipation. I move slowly, aware that certain truths cast shadows that don’t always flatter, and that honesty, even with ourselves, requires a more gentle hand than it once did.But what does this have to do with the prophecy of the fly?It was late September, the nights were growing longer; the chill arrived earlier in the evening and lingered later into the day. All the flies were taking their final flights; it’s just the way of things.This fly chose my glass to dive into..."Wine is a grand thing. It makes you forget all the terrible things." ~ Hemingway. I don't actually subscribe to this, but for the fly, I believe it was true.
The King's Kake
Once upon a time,
before clocks ruled men
there lay a land
beyond Rome’s long shadow
a kingdom, now forgotten‘Twas winter
when light passed fleetingly as a fox,
and snow crept beneath thresholds
A time when a soul’s best friend
was his breathYet, on this eve of Yule,
all hearts are merry,
For the king hath decreed
free barter and trade
and a feast at his tableThe villagers in their mirth
pledged to craft a kake
not a confection found at court
but a winter treasure born from their hearths, worthy of their king’s honorHazelnuts from Wild Farms,
apricots kissed by the sun,
cranberries, currants, and golden raisins- jewels long guarded in cupboards since harvestIn the Stone Barn did keep,
through many a moon’s turn,
this medley of fruit,
which was steeped
in brandy pear
then laid in French oak barrels claimed in the king’s last battle,
a tale oft told,
The teller never wearyInto this were folded aromatics, brought forth by caravan
from lands not yet seen:
cinnamon, clove, ginger, and
allspice,
cardamom, anise, and nutmeg.And though the winds blew fierce the morning of the fair, no warmer did the villagers greet one another good cheer!Their timbered stalls stood close
and smoke rose mightly from braziers and
iron pans,
as the mingled notes of chestnuts, mulled wine, pitch, and pine lofted in the airWith reddened hands and woolbound throats, merchants cried their wares:
garlands of mistletoe,
candles of beeswax,
fruits preserved in honey,
soaps of tallow and sage,
cottage cheeses bound in cloth,
loaves studded with candied peel
mushrooms dried on string
woolen mittens,
felted hats,
leather straps
hand-forged knives
and chains of iron
glazed clay crocks
wooden spoons and wooden trenchers
gingerbread still warm from the fire’s embers
twists of licorice black as the devil’s own knight
bells to scare the spirits still
and tinctures and amulets to cure every ill
of this world,
and of the otherAll were gathered here.As the sun journied behind the hill,
So too did the stalls shutter
What little remained was freely given
that no man be left asunderAprons folded
hands washed in hash and sand
men’s beards combed smooth
children’s cheeks rubbed clean
buckles polished
tunics clasped
Each and all made their readyGuided by torches in their ascent
to castle gates wide open
flanked by knights on shining steeds
as jongleurs danced to
minstrels’ flutes and lyre
their emerald tights and long feathered plumes, alighting this frolicsome crewInside, a fire blazed
casting specters upon tapestry-hung walls
and behold, longer than the eye can see,
a trestle bord set all a glowThe men took their women by the hand
and to their seats be found
as milken maidens
poured
mulled wine and tapsters offered ciderPewter chargers then appeared
laden with pottages and cheeses sweetened with honey,
knotted yeast breads
and wastles of the finest flourThere were fishes
and creatures of the sea;
oysters, mussels, cockles, and squidThere were goslings, puffins, and swans, partridges scented with roseA boar on a spit
mahogany skin crackling beneath the glaze,
venison, civet of hare, and the great hind quarters of stagBoiling pots of sausages, pies of black birds and pigeons sealed in thick crustsand larded pheasants
their beaks gilded
their eyes berries
Feathers carefully reapplied
a spectacle as if about to take flight...Such abundance
never before heldAnd to their feasting
The king did add
a revel unbound;
carolers, masked strumming mummers
on pipe and stringBoots struck the floor
heels kicked high
hands clutched hand
and all took their turn
round and roundtillwith bellies full
and heads a -spinA horn did blastIt cleft the din
and all at once stilled the hallFor behind the crimson curtain did appear
Their King!
Donned in red velvet
Snow white fur at the trim
He stood upon a golden chariot,
His checks a jolly glowA silver platter then did appear
and haloed all around in blue
from candles kiss
across the brandied fruitOur Kake!Unsheathing his sword,
and with one quick stroke
a measured slice
aloft for all to seeTime did still,
our breath, we did not take
all eternity lay on hinge
As the king leaned in
His nose a wiff did take
His eyes rolled behind closed lids
until at last
His lips did part
for his royal tasteHe declared:“My good and steadfast people
It is not Kake that feeds a kingdom
but the fruit of its labors
the fellowship of its hands
and the faith that binds sovereign to subject
And subject to sovereign
Know this truth:
You do not feed the Kake.
You feed the fruit!”To this
a thunderous cheerFor never was there a grander day or a kingdom so fair.Merry Yule
