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

A century ago, Al Smith was a force in American politics—and the first Catholic to mount a major run at the White House. And if he is to be believed, he didn't know what an encyclical was.
James T. KeaneFebruary 18, 2025
Pope Francis has developed pneumonia in both lungs according to the medical report from his doctors this evening, Feb. 18.
Gerard O’ConnellFebruary 18, 2025
The pope needs to prepare for his inevitable decline and death.
Thomas J. ReeseFebruary 18, 2025
His clinical condition is “complex,” the Vatican said.
Gerard O’ConnellFebruary 17, 2025