Classic and Contemporary Poetry
LOSS OF APPETITE, by WALT MASON Poet's Biography First Line: When julia rang the dinner bell, I used to Last Line: Cabbage and a tart. Subject(s): Appetite; Dinners & Dining; Food & Eating; Hunger; Restaurants; Cafes; Diners | ||||||||
WHEN Julia rang the dinner bell, I used to lift my voice and yell, and chortle and repeat; my feet went weaving like a loom, until I reached the dining room and settled down to eat. The victuals all looked good to me, the Lima bean, the spud, the pea, the fragrant raisin pie; oh, every mouthful tasted sweet, and I would sit and eat, and eat, and watch the buttons fly. But since I had that last attack of pink lumbago in the back, my appetite's destroyed; the music of the dinner bell has all the pathos of a knell, and life's an aching void. The turnips taste just like the spuds; the coffee tastes like washday suds, the meat tastes like the greens; the rich imported Worcester sauce reminds me of a total loss, the prunes taste like the beans. The women rack their heads in vain to think up dishes safe and sane, to tempt my appetite; the finest products of their skill taste like the anti-bilious pill that I must take at night. If I could only eat again, like yonder lean and hungry men, no cares should daunt my heart; I'd laugh the ills of life to scorn, and blithely eat an ear of corn, a cabbage and a tart. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IN THE GLORIOUS YEMEN RESTAURANT by KHALED MATTAWA HOMAGE TO H & THE SPEEDWAY DINER by BERNADETTE MAYER ALL-NITE LUNCHROOM by JOHN FREDERICK NIMS MONA'S TACO by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE INITIAL CONDITIONS by MARVIN BELL |
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