Friday, September 26, 2014

a man

he said, 'in this age of unbearable 'NOW', it's up to me to cultivate patience.' he started to pour me a drink and I put my hand up and shook my head to indicate 'no'. he smiled and ignored my gestures as he dropped crystal clear cubes of ice into two glasses. i stopped my protest and decided to simply let him finish and leave the liquid untouched while we conversed. he mixed the drinks with the fluidity and slow reverence of someone performing a japanese tea ceremony. i began to relax as i observed the ritual. he held a glass in each hand as he rolled the ice around inside. he emptied the glasses of the imperceptibly melted cubes and one drop of water from each glass followed them into the sink. he then picked up silver tongs and gently placed one perfect cube into each glass and then placed the glasses onto the granite bar top without a sound. i looked through the leaded crystal tumblers and ice into the warm light shining from behind them. the light fragmented in a beautiful way and it made me smile. he caught my smile and returned it. i found myself exhaling and only then realized that i had been quite tense. i shook my head very slightly and smirked at the recognition of it. he reached for a very revered brown liquor that  (to my surprise...) was familiar to me and poured a perfect shot in a fine, unbroken strand over each cube. he then added several other ingredients and gave the contents of each glass a swirl with a glass rod before he walked back over to me, slid into the seat next to mine, carefully placed one drink in front of me and held up the other in anticipation of a salute. i tilted my head in thought, reflected for a moment and then picked up my drink and touched the rim of my glass to his. the sound was a small, bright bell. we both smiled and took a sip at the same time. it was warm, hot and then invisible as it traveled down my throat into my body and radiated through me. we looked at each other and grinned.

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