Shake Me Poem by Suzanne Hayasaki

Shake me.
I'm not as fragile as I look.
You can't break me
As easily as you seem to fear.

Pick me up.
Set me down.
Leave me be
Till dust settles
Like memories
Too cheap to keep.

What you see is my surface
Smooth, cold, unyielding.
But there is heat within
Swirling my soul like magma.

I may appear a decanter,
Cut crystal, shining only in your light.
But I am the wine within,
Aging, changing, becoming more refined.

So sip me if you wish.
I can make you tipsy,
But drink me without permission
And I will carry you off like Bacchus.

There is a madness in me
Which gleams like genius
When poured out in measure
In creative company.

So pack me in a basket
And drink me at a picnic
Under an elm tree in autumn.
Take my red fire on your palette
And let it breathe as leaves shower down.

Free yourself within my power
And I will burn in your heart like a martyr.