Slip Into the Barrel with “Every Man on Tinder Has a Gun”

Image from The Cincinnati Review

Poem: “Every Man on Tinder Has a Gun”

Published in Issue 17.2 of The Cincinnati Review, every word of Sara Ryan’s poem “Every Man on Tinder Has a Gun” is seductively violent and necessarily loaded. In “Every Man” the guns of men have “slippery metal” and are “intricate and pistol-hot,” and the men offer them to the speaker “like a rose. like a fat // diamond ring. the gun / nestled in a blue velvet // box.” The language in the poem is as complicated and intertwined as its topic, which is in part about relationships and certainly about sex. Because of this, the language is double—maybe even triple—entendre’d, layering atop the violence presented here a sensuality that complicates and excites.

Violence makes itself felt in Ryan’s poem, insinuating that there’s always a little risk dealing with men. But the speaker isn’t fearful. In fact, they’re kind of into it. Half-way through the poem, the speaker says, “maybe I do touch / it—stroke my thumb over // its darkness…maybe this // is what I was looking for.” The poem then transitions away from the men and their guns and into the speaker’s body which is also home to violence, but a different kind. “It is the burning // of a slow match—call it / lighting a fire.” The imagery moves from the brief mechanism of a gun’s violence into the slow, building fire of something internal, powerful and consuming.

It feels like there’s a familiar entanglement in the poem, too, one that binds together not only sex with violence but the familiar trope of orgasm with death, but it’s robed in modern clothes. And while death isn’t concretely present in Ryan’s poem it’s silhouette can’t be overlooked. Death is the shadow of a gun, after all, the end to the path violence leads, and that’s what’s pleasantly slippery about “Every Man on Tinder Has a Gun.” There are these themes—sex and violence, dating and the danger men pose—that permeate the poem and hang between the words and lines. “It’s Complicated” isn’t just a phrase to define a relationship, it’s exactly what this poem is, and enjoyably so, all the slick, pistol-hot imagery poignantly loaded into this poem in a way that’s menacing and tense but dangerously sensual and enticing.

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Cocktail: Slip Into the Barrel

Every Man on Tinder Has a Gun

and each one wants
to describe it to me. its slippery metal.

the intricate and pistol-hot
pieces. the small and heavy bullets

that slip into the barrel

—”Every Man on Tinder Has a Gun”
Sara Ryan
The Cincinnati Review, Issue 17.2

Slip Into the Barrel sits somewhere between a Cosmopolitan and a Margarita, both of which are riffs on the classic Daisy built with a spirit, lemon, sugar, orange liqueur and topped with soda. “Margarita,” in fact, translates to “Daisy” in Spanish. This cocktail, however, is no flower. It’s daring. Fresh. It has a little heat, and something smoldering beneath its surface.

Cucumber & Mint Vodka works with the smoke of Mezcal and ancho pepper liqueur to present a flavor profile that is vegetal, bright, and spicy, all of which is held pleasantly together by lime juice and a mint simple syrup. It’s then lengthened by fresh watermelon and cucumber juice. Maybe you do touch it; maybe this is what you were looking for? Go ahead. Slip into the barrel.

Slip Into the Barrel

1.5oz Cucumber & Mint Vodka (Ketel One Botanical)
0.25oz Mezcal (Del Maguey Vida)
0.5oz Ancho Reyes Ancho Chile Liqueur
0.5oz Lime Juice
0.5oz Mint Simple
1.5oz Watermelon & Cucumber Juice**
5 drops Saline (20g salt:100g water)

1. Add all of the ingredients together to a shaker, add ice, and shake for 10-15 seconds.

2. Strain into a chilled coupe: garnish with a cucumber ribbon speared through a long matchstick.

Note:
*Rough chop a cup of fresh mint leaves and combine with still-warm simple syrup (1:1). Cover and allow to sit for at least 6 hours, swirling at least once. Taste — if the mint is still subdued, strain and reheat the syrup and use another cup of mint. Not all store bought mint is packed with flavor.

**Combine 8oz of watermelon and 2oz of peeled cucumber to a blender and blend for 20-30 seconds; strain through a fine mesh strainer and refrigerate for up to a week. After about two weeks the juice will begin to ferment, which isn’t bad, but it will no longer have that sweet watermelon & cucumber flavor flavor.