A Divine Prank

Years ago, I etched eight words onto eight glass bottles: alcohol, tears, blood, semen, time, memory, gratitude, & song.  Words from a poem by Anne Carson.  I liked the idea of liquid time, something I could drink, smell, piss out.  I was having trouble with alcohol and these words seemed key to my addiction.  When I moved across the country I shipped the bottles, carefully wrapping each of them in layers of plastic padding.  But when I opened the box upon its arrival, alcohol ,tears, blood & semen had shattered and only these last four arrived intact.