after José Olivares
the bottle was born full.
born of ferment:
enzyme, sugar, yeast, rot.
the woman was born a girl.
she grew into the bottle
like a ship.
the girl borne
her mother who gorged
on the bottle.
the girl was born
of the mother & the mother
borne the bottle.
the girl became a ship
christened & the mother
became ferment.
the bottle knows nothing
of love & cares little
of inheritance.
it knows only enzyme,
sugar, yeast, & rot—
in a small word, death.
