“Sangria. It quenches the thirst of those who drink it. It quenches our secret thirsts too. They call it the potion of oblivion.”
–from Fellini’s Juliet of the Spirits

eventually it reaches the brain, but begins
with the heart, the blood acting as medium,
il sangue. that night, I felt I could travel
through to reach you, could move within
a world of spirits, to communicate directly

without speech, without touch, in order
for you to find me. the truth is I was drunk
on the little potion I imbibed, a little bit
of love. maybe it was the moon, the wine.

or perhaps it was the sweetness of fruits
afloat in their bath of acidic night, mosquitos
seeking their share of what was tasted
with tongue and lips: that which we wanted
to remember, that which we chose to forget.