Acquired Taste

Vino tinto spritzed with agua con gas in Buenos Aires
The back of a van, Bob Dylan humming in your ears
Raindrops on your teenage face

Hoagy Carmichael singalong in his London kitchen
Shoes off at Albert Hall
The syrupy sting of lunchtime rum and colas
Stockings and suitors in the back of black cabs
Victoria sponge cake
You are a child, though you won’t be much longer

Paris in an aimless haste
Paying bar tabs with every last coin
Absinthe to get drunker, faster, cheaper
Uncontrollably wide-eyed with delight

Far from your teenage heaven
Walls coated with long-ago idols
Booked checked out twenty at a time
Tuna on Wonder bread; an untapped palate awaiting

Sadness and anger
I cannot say that it disappears
For a moment, it swells

Learn to love our shallow home of Los Angeles
Forgetful Nashville and a world locked down

Isolation in Tokyo
Onigiri and seasonal vegetables
Chopped raw and arranged neatly in lines
Rice: brown, white, mixed with quinoa
Topped with Papa’s curry

Train beers and cold sake
Benzos and natural wine
Finding yourself in the sprawl


Home, finally; New York
Every flavor at once,
palate saturated

It’s been glorious, hasn’t it?
The go-get and the never-give-up
But, yes, tiring too


With everything comes an underbelly
But a peach tastes just as sweet