30 December 2009

An Old Receipt (or "Gluttony")

butter, flour, six eggs and
more, cream from the
top of the jug, the

fine-ground caster sugar
the Madeira wine spilling
over the glass and onto

his tongue, shifting his limbs,
gout-inflamed, seeking relief
from the jagged appetites

never surfieted, never satisfied,
always chasing the last crumbs
round the plate, sopping the

gravy with still-warm bread
while others hungered for
the crumbs from his table,

his veins hardened and cracked,
blood sluggish and stultified,
knife and fork ever at the ready

No comments: