While putting away the dishes
in my tiny kitchen,
I recalled over-hearing
the man say to the girl
'Your eyes were bigger than your plate'
And now I was stacking the plates,
sorting large and small,
thinking how they were all made the same
Each one designed to hold only so much
And the inevitability
Of each one taking a turn
At the bottom,
bearing the weight
Of all
The others
And never cracking.
With the dishes put away,
I look through the glasses
Thinking of the right size
for my eyes
Hearing the tiny echoes
Of gravity
And thirsting for more.
Painting by Joannes de Cordua (1630-1702), 'Still life with copper dishes' in Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
