Table 26 ( a single place setting)

Table 26 (a single place setting)

 

 

 

stir the soup of spirit

the thickness of dour doldrums

they're all out there dancing

to toast the new couple

 

but i am remembering old ones

years of cold Octobers

icy Novembers of the heart

Christmas loves that fell off the sled

just as the moon would near

 

and now my memory burns my tongue

as the spoon's partner

is a lip that blisters from the thought of your kiss

 

the crackers of contentment

are no longer crisp

like the air in my lungs

my breaths become suicide

for the entree

 

that just keeps me waiting

to be joined

with that lonely drive home.

 

 

erin-cilberto

10/4/15

Reviews

[HippieSoulPunx]

Similar tone to your Wedding Band poem, I think. The struggle to stay focused on the present, on the happy couple and the laughter, when circumstances have brought the memories back to the front again. So much emotion in this, and the ending is very hard-hitting and powerful. Beautiful piece of writing.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, HippieSoul.

j.

[rubie]

i know how it feels to watch the joy all around you at a wedding while you are alone. it's kind of surreal, like you are watching it from some distant planet.

this one hit me hard....

[jacob erin-cilberto]

a really distant planet...:)
thanks, rubie.
j.

[Alisa Js]

What a sad and haunting piece of writing...

...some memories are harder than others to forget. Some memories are seared in our subconscious forever and we never forget...

...those are the ones that continue to haunt, decades later.

Well done, you!

Alisa ;-)

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, Alisa.

j.

[Alisa Js]

You are most welcomed💫

[m.s.early]

Some memories are worth fighting for

[jacob erin-cilberto]

true...thank you, x.
j.

[W.k.kortas]

I echo the prior reviewer who noted this could be a companion piece to "The Wedding Band". "(T)he crackers of contentment/are no longer crisp" is one hell of a phrase in one hell of a poem.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, W.k.

and yes, they are companion pieces..i was at a wedding saturday and it inspired several pieces actually.

thank you again,
j.

[W.k.kortas]

You wont find many better sources for bittersweet pieces than the outer tables of a wedding reception.

[Jerome F Knox III pseud..]

Many of us pretend to enjoy the happiness of others when deep inside we don't and despise them for being what we want and need... Masterfully done

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, Rico.

j.