The Childhood of the Greatest Bartender in the Land

You grew up
magic eyed,
crawling between the barstools.
The first words you read
were the incantations
40 percent proof,
sweet and dry, bitter and stout.
When you were done playing
you put your toy in the nearest empty pint glass.

You stopped every fight
before it began.
Your hands were as fistless as sponges
and inspired soft hands, cradling arms,
and the loving drunks
sang lullabies
as they reeled on home.



*Lenni Sanders is a student writer so she writes like she eats, using whatever she can find and/or afford