The Ghost of Bottles Past
Janice D. Soderling
Yes, we were merry
and yes, we were glad.
It’s true that we squandered
the little we had.
And yes, it was little
and later was junk.
And I was a fishwife
and you were a drunk.
And now you come ghosting
this midsummer day.
It’s too late to change things
so please go away.
And yes, there were battles.
On that we agree.
Get back in your bottle
and don’t bother me.
And yes, I remember
the dog and the cat,
the villa idyll,
your jokes and your hat,
the promises, parties,
dead friends and sly flirts,
deliberate insults,
the quarrels, the hurts.
The children, wide-eyed;
the Christmas gifts brought
by a liquor-breathed Santa.
We got what we got.
And yes, I am sorry.
And yes, it is sad
that song turned to screeching,
that good turned to bad.
It wasn’t an opera,
that saga of woe.
THE END has been written.
So go now, ghost, go.
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Janice’s notes: “The Swedish midsummer celebration has pagan roots, as does Christmas, but the former, unlike the latter, stays true to its pre-Christian roots, not least by raising a giant fertility symbol and dancing around it, singing, and by over-indulging in strong beverages.
“The festivities require schnapps, several variants of pickled herring, new potatoes, and a huge strawberry shortcake. Those are the basics; many and varied are the surrounding dishes.
“Numerous ancient superstitions and rituals are connected to this longest night of the year, never mind that the modern celebration is shifted to the weekend nearest the true solstice date.
“Among the customs is the binding of a floral wreath to adorn the heads of young and old and that is what the Swedish song below is about. Never mind that somewhere along the way, the lyrics have become wrongly accredited: I wrote ‘Song About Johanna’ over fifty years ago as a poem for my then-twelve-year-old daughter Johanna, back when I was writing in Swedish. It has a dark streak as do all four of the pagan solstice revelries which, no matter how enthusiastic the celebration, are essentially about death.”
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Janice D. Soderling has work in a variety of international journals, some defunct, others, like her, still chugging away. She is represented in anthologies wth prose and poetry. Her most recent collections are The Women Come and Go, Talking (poems), and Our Lives Were Supposed to Be Different (short fiction and flash), both under the imprint of Kultivera Productions.
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