A hundred years ago today
Mississippi became the first state
to ratify the eighteenth amendment,
the prohibition of alcohol.
And as I sip my sake,
I toast them—
not because I think
they were right,
but because I have a glass
in my hand and the sake
is dry and cool, tastes
of plum and pear,
and I am in the mood
to drink to everyone,
to our health, to our bliss,
to our rights to our own opinions,
and to whatever it is in us
that makes us believe
that we might do something
to make the world
more wonderful,
misguided and lost
though we are.