44. The Beer

nose of horse hair | wet in a field and

running through mud | yeasty muck

wet hay and cat urine | hints of

rotten cabbage | sour but vegetal

the distinct scent of | ammonia

virulent diseases transformed | into

cotton candy | with a slice of pickle

an oyster lime slushy Gose | just

as the Germans used to do it

floating particles of rust | for the iron

scent of the fermentation | occurring

between toes | sweet against nasal

passages | suffused with marshmallow

and mango lassi | cilantro and

green onion | robust | they call it

German chocolate marzipan flambee

it smells like | the last dessert you

could not finish | extravagances of

ostentation | lurid recrudescences

of summer underarm | coconut oil

 

tongue of sweet nothings | cascara

chocolate chip | caramel pudding

mud bath | Vietnamese coffee

condensed milk | imperial triple

barrel aged stout | in mezcal

grappa | and sauvignon blanc

barrels | with black raspberries

dragonfruit | durian and toasted

black sesame seed | crisp and

unpretentious | with a soupçon

of the sense of making a saison

in the middle | of a hay field

with honeybees dropping | bits

of yeast into the liquid | clean

like river-washed gravel | but

earthy and chewy | weighing in

at 18.782% ABV | yet light

enough for a pint to just fill you

with yeast and honey and sunlight

the flavors | you have only dreamed

 

clear as water as if | it were water

nearly absent | yet demonstrating

the color of | each ingredient

a near tan for | the Mumberarl malts

a light green | from the Coborgian

hop varietal grown | only on

New Zealand’s sunless | slopes

the spelt providing | a golden greige

brown | and water illuminating

the beer’s overall invisibility

one variant | exhibits a raven

purple liquor | that glistens like

an African skink slipping through

the grass | each slosh of the beer

throws up a wave | and flashes a

separate metallic color | emerald

peacock blue | tourmaline

specks of gold dust | and uranium

each color promising a different

flavor | scent | and mouthfeel