Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days
They arrive in a whirlwind bearing whiskey and grins
Drinking and promoting an intoxicated haze
Their booze-embellished stories spin a convoluted spin

They arrive in a whirlwind bearing whiskey and grins
Two nights up past midnight setting words ablaze
Their booze-embellished stories spin a convoluted spin
Fabricated stories of our lives rephrased

Two nights up past midnight setting words ablaze
Redundancy, indolence and attempts to chagrin
Fabricated stories of our lives rephrased
Their stay begins to wear swimmingly thin

Redundancy, indolence, and attempts to chagrin
Drinking and sustaining an intoxicated haze
Their stay begins to wear swimmingly thin.
Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.

Brenda Warren 2012

This piece is written for Trifecta’s Trifextra Challenge: Week Twenty-Four. Check it out for a community of writes on the same topic:

This weekend’s prompt is borrowed from Benjamin Franklin, who once said, “Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.” We want you to tell us a story about a guest, invited or otherwise, who begins to smell, metaphorically or otherwise, after three days.

The guests in my piece come and they drink too much, repeating embellished stories that bring them too much delight, due no doubt to alcohol consumption. I used the pantoum form for its repetition, as it suits the topic well.