Drinking Death

I enjoy drinking death
the way it lingers on,
like a cherry
upon my tongue.

It is inexhaustible,
sweet with a touch
of bitter tang,
the aftertaste
blows my mind away.

I savor it as an
after diner mint,
strange, refreshing,
it fizzles and burns
just around the edges.

It is a delicacy
from exotic locations,
an acquired taste
not intended for the
weak of heart or mind.

But it elevates me
when taken in just
the right dosage.

Like opium you need
to find the balance,
too easy to slip
too far one way
or the other.

For once you have had
your first drink of death
and it courses through
your bloodstream
there is no going back.

The trick is never
to take in too much
at once, you must learn
to nurse it, and make it last
as long as you can.

But be forewarned,
there is always a price to pay
for indulgence in divine pleasures,
once you have become drunk on death,
already you are lost
and beyond redemption.