Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Brian DoyleNovember 12, 2007

First thought: man, no wonder he was so skinny.
Second thought: who puts crackers in the fridge?
Third: is a fridge without any beer a fridge at all?
But then I start thinking about the stark geometry
Of his fridge, and how its just like his apartment,
Everything lean and spare and useful and solitary,
Nothing stumbling cheerfully over anything else,
Nothing rubbed up against the completely wrong
Something else. No butter, milk, mayo, jam, fruit,
Ketchup, mustard, ice cream, or mysterious spills,
Though there are various glaring medicine bottles.
Its pretty much water and crackers in here, which
Makes me grin, for you never heard a priest spout
More joyously on the essential sacramental foods
Than he did, bread and water, he would say, wine
If you must, thats all you need, all life is inherent
In these substances, add wine as necessary for joy.
Two thousand miles from here a nurse approaches
To ask him what he would like for dinner, and I
Grin all the way home, knowing full well what is
His answer: a little bread and water, God bless you.
 

More: Poetry
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Frank Turnbull, S.J., a longtime editor at 'America' who died earlier this week, is remembered as a humble, quiet and yet forceful presence to those who knew him during his 85 years of life.
James T. KeaneJuly 18, 2025
A Reflection for Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, by Zac Davis
Zac DavisJuly 18, 2025
Trauma-informed spirituality knows better than to promise that prayer will take away all the pain. But it can offer the hope that, even in the midst of pain, there can be moments of feeling whole.
Nicole KirpalaniJuly 18, 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned Pope Leo XIV, who urged Israel’s leader to revive negotiations and enact a ceasefire.