Take an Old Cherry Table

October 23, 1998

on a Wednesday afternoon,

crowd the chairs around,

gather a family of friends,

and let the talk begin.

Add some apricots, peanuts, a cake,

mix with premeditated metaphor

and wit to fit the day,

until everything starts to rise,

filling crevasses of lonely rejection

that will never be so deep again,

and the table glows.