Dinner on Flamingo Plate
©May 16th, 2017
By Vijaya Sundaram
Today, I ate off a ceramic plate.
Vibrant with life, the head and beak
Of a flamingo dipping into water
For food on the plate
Caught me by surprise.
I dipped my spoon into the bowl
On the plate, with the dipping flamingo.
I felt one-legged and long-beaked.
A rooster strutted, in several squares,
Above the kitchen sink,
And a jug with a bird-beak spout
Filled with gurgling water,
When we stood there, carrying
Things out to the garden table.
A Portuguese water-dog stood
Silent, attentive, ready to hunt
Under the garden table,
While we humans above it
Spooned bean soup made by our host,
Talked about Climate Change,
And ate the spiced vegetable pulao that
I’d brought as an offering.
We discussed environmental bills
And legislative matters, wrapping
Our heads around abstruse matters
Like a turban around an impenetrable skull.
But the flamingo peered at me
All the while, one interested eye
Arresting my crab-wise attention.
And that beak was the bill I read.
I dipped my spoon into the soup-bowl
On the plate, with its dipping flamingo.
I felt one-legged and long-beaked.
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