There’s no tequila in this song, he said,

the room was crowded and warm

and music filled, and you looked at

me and said That’s a great line for a

poem, which one of us should

write it? and I laughed, sort of

drunk on the wine and the guitars

and the night air. Someone told

me afterward the music was like

a sanctuary, a world we could

escape into. Armando told me

the music makes him forget

about his divorce. Katie said

it was great to be in a room

full of people smiling. Sometimes

I dive down into the center of

the music, trying

to go as far as I can, trying to

lose myself forever in it.

Ax said There’s no tequila in this

song. It’s all I heard, I’m

not sure if it’s a good thing,

or a bad. There’s no tequila

in this song, he said.

I don’t think we needed it.

by Cher Bibler