April is Alcohol Awareness Month

Each April since 1987, the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence, Inc. has sponsored Alcohol Awareness Month to “increase public awareness and understanding, reduce stigma and encourage local communities to focus on alcoholism and alcohol related issues.”

William Oldys, born in 1696 and died April 15, 1761 was an English poet, bibliographer, and antiquarian known to be fastidious in his lifelong task of recording historical data. Biographers of his time state he drank large amounts of alcohol. I have appropriated his rhyme scheme in my poem and pay homage to Nattional Poetry Month and Alcohol Awareness Month.

William Oldys: On a Fly Drinking Out of His Cup

Busy, curious, thirsty fly!

Drink with me and drink as I:

Freely welcome to my cup,

Couldst thou sip and sup it up:

Make the most of life you may,

Life is short and wears away.

Both alike are thine and mine

Hastening quick to their decline:

Thine’s a summer, mine’s no more,

Though repeated to threescore.

Threescore summers when they’re gone

Will appear as short as one!

J. Connolly: On a Guy Drinking Out of His Mind

Boozing, serious, thirsty *barfly!

Drunk like me, here’s mud in your eye:

Spilling shots from a paper cup,

Cans and bottles just sucking em up.

Drinking throughout the rest of the day,

Your life getting shorter – wasting away.

Cheap shots of whisky, beer, and wine

Hasten us both to a quick decline:

First we sing, then we’re a bore,

Round after round, calling out for more.

Your ‘happy hour’ has come and gone

As you pass out on the way back to the john.

*Barfly is a slang term for a person who

spends much time drinking in barrooms.

Joey aka “Pepe Batbon” Connolly is a retired educator who taught in the CNMI, NOLA, and LVNV. He is the Poet Laureate of Tinian and enjoys stargazing.