Old Fashioned

To make an old fashioned cocktail,

Preferably with rye,

You take a small glass tumbler,

Put a cube of sugar on the bottom,

Pour bitters over the sugar,

Then muddle.

Put in an ice cube,

Then pour the whiskey on top.

Garnish with a rind of citrus.

 

This is an old fashioned love poem.

 

Old fashioned in how a sip of you

Makes me feel brave and strong;

The burning on my tongue is

Like candy for grownups,

Who have cried anguished tears

and shouted in ecstasy too many times

To any longer be children,

Who now crave the bitterness of drinks

Even darker than life itself,

To remind them how it feels to be thrilled

And soothed all at once.

 

Old fashioned in how

I have nothing to prove with my words.

That this is the simplest statement

Of how much I adore you,

Of how my mind races to come up

with witty lines to hear you laugh.

How even after I’ve known you for years,

I’m too shy to look you in the eyes when I

pour my heart out to you,

Even though at this point

neither one of us closes the door

when we use the bathroom.

 

This love feels old fashioned

Because it’s the type of love that is

weathered but still beautiful,

Like all the storms

that shape and mold a tree

that is still growing

Until it’s something new,

Yet still familiar.

 

It feels old fashioned like 1950s sitcoms

with matching twin beds

That you do queen bed-type things in

After the studio audience is gone.

Old fashioned like love letters

Sent as text messages

With random emojis that are inside jokes

And Bitmojis that look like us

Sending virtual hugs to each other.

 

Old fashioned like how

it’s just two people

Meeting each other in the middle,

Being each other’s best friend

and secret keeper.

Sharing passwords

Like kids who make forts in the backyard.

 

And old fashioned like

The Drifters and Otis Redding,

Letter jackets and penny loafers,

But more like Kendrick Lamar

and Chance the Rapper concerts,

and like when we get dressed and come out

both wearing black t-shirts and camo pants.

 

To make an old fashioned love,

Preferably with time,

You take a small white house

With a red porch and a black door,

Put a friendship built from mutual respect

on the bottom,

Pour passion over the friendship

Then muddle.

Put a pet cat in the house,

Then pour joy on top.

Garnish with a rind of citrus.

 

This is an old fashioned love poem

For my dearest lover and friend,

Who has seen me

in all my ways, good and bad,

And I in his,

But is still my favorite person

At the end of the day

To share an old fashioned cocktail with.