Champagne can be kept effervescent
by putting a knife in the open bottle
Claudia Emerson
Delight, too long on the tongue,
or in our lover’s arms and we hunt
for aspirin, even consider clothes.
Take heed of that elegant stemware
breeding in the sink. Tilt imagined solitude
to the lips, but handle any knife with care.
Some french bubbles may find brief
life support in a grinding stone, or crave
an anxious hop on pleasure’s whetted edge.
I have only to picture a stone mason’s chisel
in the open magnum of our love, worrying
out our letters and dates, to find fizz enough.
