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BY Aaron Krol
I have saved all your garnishes
orange peels and olive picks
lemon twists fat with vermouth all
fingerfished from the last rattles of
ice. I am making a scarecrow out
of pearl onions and celery stalks
his muscle is limepulp his
sinews are cherry stems
his hat is a cocktail umbrella.
I have given him a frown
to keep away the hornets but
I worry he will only make them
hungrier, sticky as he is with
grenadine. They never land they
whir about your hangover remnants I
think they are in love and these
are my sprigs of mint
my pools of watered pepper
how often and how staunchly have I served you
I will brave the stings and down your hibiscus flowers.
Aaron Krol is a native of Baltimore, MD, and currently resides in Boston, where he is pursuing his MFA from Emerson College. When not writing, he works for Lab Culture, the newsletter of the African Society for Laboratory Medicine, and for the New Repertory Theatre in Watertown.