Forks and Knives and Spoons and Lives

the kids have left,
their lives gone far beyond our doors,
their dinner-table aspirations
are now foregone conclusions,
have been left behind ephemerally adrift
among scents of stews and soups
as they bickered and laughed between bites,
as they each raised patterns of fleur de lis
of silver-plate of forks and knives
and spoons and lives

Jim Culleny
4/3/22