First, I read "drown you in" as "drown" being a force the city has, similar to how the city "pulls you in." Drowning as an active force, almost a temptation the way alcohol is a temptation. The way Dionysus' revenge metaphorically drowned the women of Thebes. Maybe I see that because I know quite a bit about the drowning properties of drink and drinking cities. Places that are so associated with drinking and drugging it become an indivisible part of the experience--a triad. That's my take, FWIW.
The narrator is afraid he will become like Pentheus, down to being dressed as a woman and losing his senses. When the poem turns to the present and where I assume is New York--I don't know Josh--and makes statements about the insanity of the U.S. that I certainly agree with I'm not sure the metaphor--comparison--holds up as well as it should. Maybe I'm too deep in the corrosive insanity of what is going on to see it as a drunken orgy. It's more Hitchcock than Euripides. The bizarre Christians who know nothing about Christianity, etc. may seem wild in a media way when they are essentially steely-eyed sociopaths. I'm not sure the comparison to Thebes connects. As for the discussion of free will, maybe we need more if you want to keep it.
As usual, I haven't added to the helpful line and word critiques as much as the others. They do a great job. All I can do is read and let my mind go blab blab blab and hope something helpful arises. I don't know if this is helpful. Overall, all of your poems have a specific genius, and some, as with all of us, work better than others. Perhaps this needs less compression. You have a city and a strong myth and then centuries of the wild destructive other-worldly magic of wine to use. Maybe it's a good one to go on longer--Blake, Whitman, Milton . . . .
Hope this helps
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