Five Ways

Joe said he likes to taste blind because
it’s a challenge, and challenges are what
make a person better. Lisa said,
I thought you liked to taste blind for sport.

I like to taste blind for sport, Joe said,
And then it was clear he’d been tasting-blind-
for hours. Lisa slid the bottles
to the middle of the table.

Joe clenched his eyelids. It’s not about the
provenance or the varietal, he said. That’s
the easy part. The hard part is not
opening your eyes.