Fermented

The French had nothing on us…
okay, other than skill, tradition, and hygiene
We all were vintners for a moment
or at least we were mad scientists
either way it wasn’t good

A bottle of grape juice
a packet of yeast, roughly torn
some seemingly used cellophane
and one 500 ml beaker

a class of seventh graders
and an eager teacher
mixed ingredients
stretched the flimsy membrane
set the beaker on the high shelf
in the science lab’s closet
(hardly the wine cellar)
and waited
for wine

Why, oh why, did we taste it?
Good thing for new laws
keeping others in public schools
from a similar fate.

July 15, 2006 17:29


All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 18,760+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.