“praise the Hennessy, the brown/ shine, the dull burn”

It may not be whiskey, but we’ll take it: here’s the gorgeous start of a Wednesday poem by Chicago poet and Hairpin pal Nate Marshall.

praise the Hennessy, the brown

shine, the dull burn. praise

the dare, the take it, the no face

you’re supposed to make.

praise the house, its many rooms,

hardwood and butter leather couches;

its richness. praise the rich, their friendship.

praise the friends: the child of the well off,

the child of the well off, the child of well,

the child of welfare, the child of welfare.

praise the diversity but praise the Hennessy,

and again, and again. praise

the new year upon us. praise my stumble,

the shaky eye, the fluid arm, but the steady

hand. praise my hand, the burning it has.

The rest of “praise song,” published in the October issue of Poetry, is up at the Poetry Foundation.