To Please a Man - by Alice Pero

TO PLEASE A MAN

When I brought him that bowl of navy bean soup
I tried to impress him with its Latin name
I had memorized the genetic code of the potato
Tossed roots of words into the trash with the peelings
I placed long strings of conjugated German verbs
on the table with the melon,
thinking to sweeten the dessert
For the next meal I composed an ode to the toaster
while giving the full history of breaking fast
citing the dates of several English's kings battles
in Ireland and Wales
At lunch I sang a Gregorian chant, which sounded
soothing accompanied by the chopping of onions
then I spun a sonnet into the soufflé
giving it just a hint of flavor...
nothing that would offend
I hoped he didn't injure a tooth biting into
the pie where I had carefully hidden the
rest of the history of the Western world
He didn't comment
but later mentioned that he was part Japanese
would prefer haiku in a dish of sushi
Men are so hard to please

© 2008 Alice Pero All Rights Reserved.
www.alicepero.com www.moondaypoetry.com

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