Tequila or Chasing the Worm

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https://www.poetry.com/poem/163924/tequila-or-chasing-the-worm

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  Jewoo525

  The worm at the bottom of the bottle always intrigued me, apparently it's a sign that it's the "good stuff." Nowadays companies will deliberately put a worm in the bottle as part of the marketing scheme... The knowledge of this kind of added some "headcanon" to my reading of your lovely poem, it helped add another layer to the meaning. This a simple and effective poem that conveys alcohol addiction through its use of a unique metaphor, I love your take on it and it was a nice creative choice. I especially thought the ending was really good, personifying the worm further (and by extension, alcoholism) by literally giving it life so that it may "secrete a line of slime" was further emboldened by excellent diction.
  
  I hope to see you next month. Keep writing! more »

  LikeReply9 months ago
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    jeremyt.40101

    Alcoholism is definitely a major part of this poem. When I first wrote it over twenty years ago when i was still in college, I was in the early days of my alcoholism and did not yet know it. I did not grow up with alcohol. I grew up in an extremely fundamentalist Pentecostal family. My first enconters with alcohol and the freedom to explore my homosexuality both coincided with my college years. Unfortunately, it was not a healthy collision. I had severe family problems and self-esteem issues upon coming out. My mother was quite cruel. To me the worm at the bottom of the tequila is provides an ambivolent dichotomy: It is at one the very monstrous symbol of my pain and internalized homophobia and they symbol of release from that pain as by the time I have reached it at the bottom of the bottom, I will be completely numb or passed out. In a great sense, much of this poem is very literal. I actually wrote it in one night while drunk as a skunk and lying in a bathtub. more »

    LikeReply 19 months ago