I drink to you, Lionesses

Sloe Gin

Seamus Heaney
The clear weather of juniper
darkened into winter.
She fed gin to sloes
and sealed the glass container.

When I unscrewed it
I smelled the disturbed
tart stillness of a bush
rising through the pantry.

When I poured it
it had a cutting edge
and flamed
like Betelguese.

I drink to you
in smoke-mirled, blue-black
polished sloes, savage
and reliable.