Baudelaire told me,
He directed me to,
Get Drunk,
Be Drunk,
And be it always.

I don’t think my liver can handle his lifestyle,
But every once and awhile,
I listen to his instructions.

My conscious leaves my body
And it is able to do whatever it wants.
I leave the child in charge of the house
And gladly take a trip upstate.
My mind does not have to worry about
All the stressors in my life.

“Good bye!” I scream as the car takes off,
“I’m going to the sunny, sunny country,
Don’t wait up!”

The body, meanwhile, is having her own brand of fun.
She is dancing and singing at the top of her lungs;
She would be pleased if I never came back.
She’s drinking whiskey or vodka,
Happily living out Baudelaire’s suggestion.

For a couple hours, I live carefree.
No responsibility, just fun.
I feel like a child again.
I’m strong in this world,
I’m happy in this world,

The trees are even greener in this world.
But it is only a couple hours.
When I wake up, the troubles return too.
The trees aren’t any greener,
I’m not happy either.
I feel like I haven’t been in years.
My conscious returns from the country,
With maybe a couple stories to tell,
But nothing more.
The world is as it always was.
And I Understand…

Baudelaire told me to always be drunk,
And it certainly is a fresh world to me when I am.
But the responsibilities will always be calling me.
There is no true escape from them.

C.G. Nelson has been an avid reader of poetry since she was thirteen years old. Her first loves were Emily Dickinson and Edgar Allan Poe. C.G. Nelson is a new poet. She went to the University of Washington, where she graduated with a degree in English and Philosophy.