Coffee and Butter and Gin
a villanelle and a recipe
The sun sets outside and the shadow within.
We drink off our comfort, well-being, and repose
with coffee and butter and gin.
This benediction, shared with our kin,
the mixture holds fast ‘gainst our foes,
when the sun sets outside and the shadow within.
When congregants pray and preach about sin,
baptizing babies by dipping their toes
in coffee and butter and gin,
the coffee is hot, to melt butter in.
Sugar to taste. Our sorrow God knows,
if the sun sets outside, the shadow within,
the sound of the thaw climbing under our skin.
Our laughter unravels, our secrets expose,
When we add to the coffee and butter, our gin.
Ain’t wisdom nor courage to put our hope in.
Judgment obscures what history shows.
As the sun sets outside, and the shadows within,
we finish our coffee and butter and gin.
I decided to write a villanelle when I read Melissa Coffey’s workshop post over on the…
