Sipping Earth

Burg Frankenstein
(Image by sergei.gussev)   Details   DMCA

When I was thirteen
We lived in Germany.
My brother, sister and I
Used to take the streetcar
To the end of the line
To walk in the
Heart of wine country.
That was also where I experienced
My first wine
From a little glass
Bearing a local vineyard's
Coat of arms.
(We were at a festival
Near Heidelberg.)
I could taste the
Ancient cultivated wildness
Of the grapes:
Earthy, sweet, tangy.
So much life in one sip!
There was a dance pavilion
With a raised platform
Under a tent in the center
With all the wine-tasting stalls
Set up around the big tent
Under bright awnings.
There was music,
Joy and laughter.
It made me yearn to grow up.
Now I sip a normal-sized glass
Of cheap red wine.
Barefoot or Shaws,
It matters little.
But I think back to that time
When that sip of Rein wine
Woke something up in me,
Namely the certainty that
I would enjoy growing up after-all.
It's not that any promise was broken.
I'm sure such wine still exists.
The problem was
I simply eventually forgot
The taste of Earth.