In the Pursuit of Happiness

rewrite to ratchet the cynicism

Statistically, I read somewhere, one third 

to four/elevenths of connubial evaporations 

trace back to too much bourbon in proximity 

to b***s … so there’s the argument 

for watered down cocktails … aggravation 

of a happy bride … provocation of Misery 

and Despair to get high, go low, double 

down on rocky hims unloosed from the spinnaker … 

all of which explains my cynical presence 

at so many Jack and Jill sorrow full soirées. 

Though I had no desire to be married, weddings 

were a goat’s cornucopian invite 

to Pan’s bacchanalian interlude -- Lady Valois’ 

swabbed deck of tindered regrets. Once the cake was cut, 

a good bar could always be relied upon to stir 

the blaze … tippling a night to libidinous fermentation.

Ken e Bujold

Reviews

[W. Barrett Munn]

I think my favorite part comes early, from 1/3 to 4/11 ths, such a tiny window on an upper floor balcony overlooking happiness valley where bourbon and b***s live together.
A really fun and interesting take on the sexes.

Winston

[Ken Simm.]

All I can say is that I discovered that all my relationships, marriages or otherwise worked on not in direct proportion to my consumption of alcholol. But then I've also found that being sober all the time now doesn't help either. I still look at physical attributes the same way. So maybe that arguement doesn't hold alcholol.
Whatever this is a supremly whimsical and clever write.
Perhaps, he said, showing off for being sober for many years now. Perhaps it is the type of alcholol? Champagne or 25yr old malt? Never liked the former. Even when I was drinking.

[Ken e Bujold]

yes. stimulants wore off many relationships in my life as well. which in light of what i just posted to Bhuyanshi a post back is a reminder of life's synchronicity at work once again. This whimsical romp is more about reason/unreason than its settingn might suggest

ken

[Bhuyanshi Talukdar]

This poem seems to explore the idea that a significant number of marital conflicts can be attributed to excessive alcohol consumption, particularly in the presence of physical attraction.

[Ken e Bujold]

on the surface yes. certainly skins the nose of wedded bliss, but that is only because i chose to set it in place where reason typically gives way to passion. truthfully, who thinks of anything but love at a wedding? Below the surface however this poem is about reason, what passes for it, how we say we are using only facts but ...well how often is that true? Read without consideration of its physical place what i'm drilling down to is the thin line between mind and the unmind. the playfulness of the poem has been influenced by my love of great poet John Ashbery and his use of the absurd to mask the metaphysical.
Glad you dropped by to visit and read Bhuyanshi, every visit is a joy. Though I encourage you to read again if you have time or are a bit curious after my reply. Read without thought to setting, or alchohol, just zero in on ideas mentioned above.

The beauty of poems is in their bones and veins as much as in the pretty lines of their facade. Or said another way ... sometimes things are as they appear, but then they're also not.

Your friend
Ken