We give thanks

[jon1jt]

The last strawberry, splash
splash, homemade muffins
dead, dead, languages, cat
gagging. Days
we give thanks.

[blp]

It's very evocative and has a great flow, but I'm not sure why the crumble is sudden

and if you say you thought you were going to get away with this

So the
food, dead languages
comprehended with my guests'
tongues, washed down with
sangria.

sentence lacking a main verb, I don't believe you. I don't get it. Is the food a dead language? I can't make head or tail of it and it's right in the middle of the whole thing.

[TheFifthElement]

Hmm, I think I have to disagree with blp on this one! I got a sense of historical continuity with the 'dead languages' line - as though there was a clear line from the peoples who first feasted in this way (I'm assuming this is linked to Thanksgiving, though it would probably work for any 'traditional' feast) and their dead language - to the people sat at the table now finishing their meal. So they 'understood' the 'dead language' as the context was passed on through the feast. Of course I could be massively off the mark, but that was what I got out of those lines.

I didn't like 'lapsing', but then this term has a very specific meaning in my line of work and it's hard for me to divorce the word from its day to day context.

On the whole I enjoyed this poem, it has an immediacy and not, and the jerky discontinuous snapshot feel of the memory of a day.

[ampoule]

The last blueberry, splash
of orange marmalade on my plate.
Homemade corn muffins lapsing
into a sudden crumble. So the
food, dead languages
comprehended with my guests'
tongues, washed down with
sangria. Nearby, the cat gags
down a twitching mouse. Day
over. We give thanks.

This really gives me a picture of SOME Thanksgivings I have been a part of. They begin sweet with great smells and talk and laughter but so often they crumble from too many questions, not enough listening, too many expectations (often self-imposed), stress, and by the end of the day we're just thankful we made it through another one. Sounds sad but it really isn't. It's just the family dynamics we must sometimes gag down.

[jon1jt]

blp: you gave me a lot to think about with that line. i need some time to think it through. thanks, blp.

fifth/amp: exactly as i imagined it! thanksgiving or any traditional feast. The chit chat to the sudden crumble of it all, yes! thank you fifth, thank you amp!!!