Welcome to my new blog series, Sake Shots: Words in Progress, where I plan to share excerpts from works other than poetry and blog posts that are in some state of progress – writing, publishing, nudging me to the brink of sanity. The idea, in part, is to share what I’m working on and invite feedback, which I find drives me and helps me stay enthusiastic about projects, despite my often short attention span. Also, claiming to have something in the works will hopefully keep my feet to the fire, my pen to the paper, my fingers to the keys – you get the idea.
So, here we go.
Today’s Sake Shot is from a short fiction piece I’ve just submitted to my writers’ group for critique.
Hội An in 3D
And I like the looks of our hookah. It’s a regal machine with its golden ashtray tapering into the emerald stem and the royal blue water chamber at the bottom, ornate with floral patterns. The mouthpiece, emerald as well, is fashioned into billows and spheres that are as much about grip as aesthetics. The tin foil sealing the tobacco in the bowl at the top and the black-gray hose sprouting from the grommet on the side are utilitarian breaks from the hookah’s overall luster. Still, I can’t help but think the contraption is the most beautiful water bong I’ve ever seen.
drunken poem bodega 
Glad to be included, Chance. Thank You. i did use an opium pipe in Saigon several times; then ‘back in the world’ i used a few things a bit more interesting than rolling papers to smoke dope with, so i can understand the allure of foreign smoking devices to a degree. Mostly though, i am deeply Thankful to have been clean for almost forty years. Tobacco, and all other addictive substances have stolen so much from the families of the earth. “Why be unhappy when You can purchase heaven for a penny?” Is a rather old quotation i have heard attributed to the Far East during the times of the “Opium Wars”. No matter how inexpensive the price for a false ‘heaven’ may be, the lasting result is always sadly the same. Some form of pain.
If You ever do reach the “brink of sanity”, tell me if the trip was worth the effort, ok?……..c