William Shunn’s Main Wish Null

Share this post

Smoke

shunn.substack.com

Discover more from William Shunn’s Main Wish Null

Main Wish Null is William Shunn out of order.
Continue reading
Sign in
Poetry

Smoke

A few lines in support of the proposition that a little whiskey never hurt a poem.

William Shunn
Sep 9, 2022
3
Share this post

Smoke

shunn.substack.com
2
Share

This poem was originally performed January 1, 2013, for the Tuesday Funk Reading Series. It was later published in The Piltdown Review.

Photo licensed from Bigstock.
I make it my general practice
    not to drink and write.
At least, I try not to drink
    when writing fiction,
where the prose should be clear
    and lucid as water,
even as it refracts the light.

But poetry's a different matter.
    A little whisky never
hurt a poem. Not much, anyway.
    Certainly not this
glass of it, distilled from smoke
    that might have
scribbled words like these in
    the air as it
jittered away, leaving only this
    amber residue,
not so transparent as it appears. ∅
3
Share this post

Smoke

shunn.substack.com
2
Share
2 Comments
Share this discussion

Smoke

shunn.substack.com
Patrick O'Leary
Writes Creative Strategies for a Godle…
Sep 9, 2022Liked by William Shunn

Nice one, Bill.

Expand full comment
Reply
Share
1 reply by William Shunn
1 more comment...
Top
New
Community

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 William Shunn
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing