So Drink to That
my neighbor
grows acres of grapes
but doesn't make the wine
i know you might think
the tradition is old world
but really how american is that
selling what you've learned to harvest
for the best price you can garner
on a mostly global market
stubborn persistence running
a distant mile or two ahead
of presidential intelligence
and on and on it goes until
empty dark bottles of the best
end up buried in landfills or
if we're lucky get recycled
to pour again
only despots and demigods
and their slavish serpentine servants
object to open buying and selling
they know fair trade to be
anathema to corruption
fatal like sunlight to the art
of doing deals best
accomplished in the dark
so drink to that
while you can
at least one time
next time
you raise a glass
it's how the rich get richer
and the poor stay poor
it’s a foundation of the country
a cornerstone of democracy
an essential building block
for commodities that break and
endless rows of tract houses