DRINKING SONG

Sing everyman his praises once, at last,
Though pass the brew behind me if you please,
For moments which avoid the hollow blast,
The lonliness, the crowd bombast, gilt ease.
However brief the touch of human kindness
O grab your steins again and lift them high.
Forget the awesome times, how we were mindless,
Distraught or battered, drowning, or bone-dry.
Though we may perish, burning or in tears,
Afire or awash, don't wait the doom.
Breathe fellowship and brave the coming years
While we embrace the hope, reject the gloom.
     And round the fireside let the embers grow
     So soft and unassuming yield their glow.

Jay Cohen

Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 22, No. 1, 1978