Table d’hote

[PrinceMyshkin]

Death is not a marrowbone
from which you can suck the essence
and set the rest aside

nor is it a smorgasbord
where you sample
the dishes that appeal to you,
and go back for seconds and thirds.

No, it’s the Full Meal Deal
after swallowing which
you dab your lips delicately
and lay your napkin down

[paperleaves]

Oh my. Jer, this is something else. Your imagery, the brevity, the clarity all add to the bittersweet tone of the poem. Working in a hospital has shown me the many faces of death, the long, torturous dining hall of plattered afflictions served only to the ones who wish for health the most.
I especially love the last stanza. Something about the delicate acceptance of digesting such a meal, and "dab[bing] your lips delicately/ and lay your napkin down".

Love it.

in kindness
kate

[DanielBenoit]

So deep and subtle! Of all your poems, you have not written a better concluding line than "you dab your lips delicatley / and lay your napkin down."

[firefangled]

This is certainly one of the best poems I've read of yours in the last two years. I anticipated where you were going in the first stanza, but how you made the final turn was astounding.

I think the greatest poetry does this, leads us down a well-cleared and accessible path and then drops the reader into an amazing metaphor they would have never suspected.

Bravo, Prince, Bravo!

[paperleaves]

Okay, I just got home, re-read this poem, and I am still held captive from that last line.

[Delta40]

You really are a great poet. When it is time, I want death in its entirety!

[qimissung]

It makes me think of Fifth's poem about the dream, and is it the Hindu idea (?) of the the god that opens his mouth and one can see the whole universe inside him.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Many thanks, Paperleaves, Firefangled, Daniel, Delta, Qimmisung - and Paperleaves.

[DanBierce]

Great ending. Perfect. Enjoyed!

[MorpheusSandman]

I really don't have anything to add except to echo all of the praise above. I think this is my favorite poem I've read of yours, Prince. :)

[Virgil]

:lol: I love it!! I had not heard the phrase "Table d'hôte" and so had to look it up. I think the poem is great! It gets more absurd fort lack of a better word with each stanza. I love the sequence and that last line is to "die for," pun intended. ;)

[cogs]

i agree, the ending is nicer than what might have resulted from swallowing. lol, 'they that dance must pay the fiddler'... 'i can't believe i ate the whole thing'... good metaphor for death.

[AuntShecky]

Once again your speaker displays an adroitness with irony, since this of course is a dish that no one (with a few exceptions) would ever order willingly. Another provocative piece, Prince.

[Granny5]

Death is not a marrowbone
from which you can suck the essence
and set the rest aside

nor is it a smorgasbord
where you sample
the dishes that appeal to you,
and go back for seconds and thirds.

No, it’s the Full Meal Deal
after swallowing which
you dab your lips delicately
and lay your napkin down


Wonderful...it's a feast, Jer.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Wonderful...it's a feast, Jer.

If a "feast," it was one that I saw with a bitter dessert. Qimmisung recognized a similarity in the third stanza with Dylan Thomas' "Do not go gentle into that good night..."

Thanks.