This week’s poem in the Catholic Poetry Room is by Carolyn Martin.
Hospitality
“Who makes the meal shouldn’t have to clean it up
is what I always say.”
And Martha threw her tired heart into a chair.
“The meat was just a little tough,
but they don’t give us ‘better parts’
where we buy our fare.”
She chuckled at the joke she made
and toed the footstool to her feet.
She knew he liked her best.
Why make a point at every meal to eat
it all and bread the gravy off the plate?
She smiled at her own knowing
and caught him in a doze.
It was comforting, just the two of them,
with daylight winding down outside
and Mary contemplating dishes in the sink.
It was comforting, after all her work was done,
to get a piece of better parts:
to sit, to doze, to think,
sharing satisfied hearts.
Originally published in Sisters Today.
From associate professor of English to management trainer to retiree, Carolyn Martin has journeyed from New Jersey through California to Oregon to discover Douglas firs, months of rain, and dry summers. Her poems and book reviews have appeared in publications throughout North America and the UK, and her fourth collection, A Penchant for Masquerades, was released by Unsolicited Press in 2019. She is currently the poetry editor of Kosmos Quarterly: journal for global transformation. Find out more about Carolyn at www.carolynmartinpoet.com.
