I can’t possibly be a critic today… not when I just tasted Polar blueberry seltzer for the first time in over a year.

This nectar-like beverage is not available in the New York metro area (disaster!), but Andrew and I both love it… so for his birthday ( yesterday), I ordered two cases of Polar seltzer from the company’s Massachusetts headquarters: one blueberry, one vanilla. All day at my office, I’ve been enjoying a small portion of that gift (see above.)

I would like to dedicate the following poem to today’s beverage experience:

Buzz

“How did you know it was love?”

Twisting his wedding band,
hands at his belly,
like he’s shielding his marriage
from the prospect of mine.

“How did you?”

A question with a question,
a sword with a sword.
I ask and lean forward.
I lunge over his desk

and see pictures
of his family,
just past his monitor
just past the nameplate

that makes him Justice of the Peace—
that gives him power to decide.
A man with an ugly shirt
and squeamish ring

looks at his family
and compares it to mine.
So I lunge forward
to make myself clear.

A question with a question.
Can you see that I’m serious?
Can you see that I’m holding
what I love?

A bottle of seltzer.
Blueberry. Polar.
Cold and elusive,
delicious and warm.

“How did you?”

A question with a question.
I don’t want an answer—
just the buzz in my mouth
and a nod from the man who can’t taste it.

— Mark Blankenship