Poem: "Drinking Games"
This poem came out of the November 1, 2022 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by Amber of . It also fills the "Religious Fiction" square in my 11-1-22 card for the Drabble Fest Bingo. This poem belongs to the series One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis.
"Drinking Games"
There were a lot of hard things about
stepping down as the God of Evil
to become the God of Drunks.
Some of them were obvious,
like giving up the chance
to sack and pillage a city or
blasting entire landscapes
with a single malediction.
Others caught Shaeth by
surprise, like how he had
to relearn ways of having fun.
It wasn't just that he was
no longer in charge of evil.
It was that his old hobbies
simply were not fun anymore.
That was an uncomfortable discovery.
One day while Shaeth was moping
about it a bit, his followers decided
to do something about the matter.
"You need some drinking games,"
Prell declared as she finished
her cup of wine. "I need a target!"
Denore grabbed a piece of charcoal
and marked a target on the wall.
Prell flung the lees of her wine
at the wall, hitting quite close
to the center of the target.
"Well done!" cried Denore.
Of course then everyone
had to try to beat her.
No one did, although
Shaeth came pretty close.
Belfegar came up with
the craziest drinking game.
He called it snapdragon.
It involved floating raisins
in a bowl of burning brandy
while people attempted
to snatch and eat them
without getting burned
too terribly much.
While highly amusing
among humans, it wasn't
much of a challenge for
Shaeth, who was still
pretty much fireproof.
It was Trobby who
found the best game.
High jinks was, at heart,
a fairly simple dice game.
If you rolled lower than
your opponent, you had
to take another drink --
or else perform some sort
of undignified activity.
Half the fun was getting
everyone roaring drunk,
and the other half was
coming up with ever
more ridiculous tasks.
"Look at me, I'm a lady
of the night!" Trobby caroled
as he danced in a borrowed skirt.
"You're the most beautiful belle
at the ball," Shaeth assured him.
Which made it only fair that when
Shaeth rolled double ones, he wound up
pretending to be Abredin the Herb Goddess
with the same skirt and a bouquet of flowers.
It was the most fun that Shaeth had ever had.
* * *
Notes:
Most religious fiction is very sober. This is the exact opposite of that.
Enjoy a list of drinking games.
"Drinking Games"
There were a lot of hard things about
stepping down as the God of Evil
to become the God of Drunks.
Some of them were obvious,
like giving up the chance
to sack and pillage a city or
blasting entire landscapes
with a single malediction.
Others caught Shaeth by
surprise, like how he had
to relearn ways of having fun.
It wasn't just that he was
no longer in charge of evil.
It was that his old hobbies
simply were not fun anymore.
That was an uncomfortable discovery.
One day while Shaeth was moping
about it a bit, his followers decided
to do something about the matter.
"You need some drinking games,"
Prell declared as she finished
her cup of wine. "I need a target!"
Denore grabbed a piece of charcoal
and marked a target on the wall.
Prell flung the lees of her wine
at the wall, hitting quite close
to the center of the target.
"Well done!" cried Denore.
Of course then everyone
had to try to beat her.
No one did, although
Shaeth came pretty close.
Belfegar came up with
the craziest drinking game.
He called it snapdragon.
It involved floating raisins
in a bowl of burning brandy
while people attempted
to snatch and eat them
without getting burned
too terribly much.
While highly amusing
among humans, it wasn't
much of a challenge for
Shaeth, who was still
pretty much fireproof.
It was Trobby who
found the best game.
High jinks was, at heart,
a fairly simple dice game.
If you rolled lower than
your opponent, you had
to take another drink --
or else perform some sort
of undignified activity.
Half the fun was getting
everyone roaring drunk,
and the other half was
coming up with ever
more ridiculous tasks.
"Look at me, I'm a lady
of the night!" Trobby caroled
as he danced in a borrowed skirt.
"You're the most beautiful belle
at the ball," Shaeth assured him.
Which made it only fair that when
Shaeth rolled double ones, he wound up
pretending to be Abredin the Herb Goddess
with the same skirt and a bouquet of flowers.
It was the most fun that Shaeth had ever had.
* * *
Notes:
Most religious fiction is very sober. This is the exact opposite of that.
Enjoy a list of drinking games.