dandelion poem #1

my young daughters picked dandelion heads on a sunny slope dappled with yellow we stirred the blooms into a crock of water added sugar floated on top a slice of toast smeared with yeast and let it all bubble odiferously in our dining room for a couple weeks I bottled the dandelion wine gave it for gifts nobody liked it but the kids gradually drank the dregs stashed in the basement where with friends they enacted regularly a drama they called “schoolboys” they took turns being the cruel headmistress who for punishment forced the drink down their throats the game eventually ended maybe when the spirits were finally spent

© 2011 Jacqueline Jackson