Another Holy Day – the table cannot hold
Creation as it is: the eight-month-old
enraptured with his reach; the toddler who paints
with gravy; cake pans grinning through the faint
crow’s feet that age has cut, now brimming with the cryst-
al skins of chicken-fried-steak; the eldest
great-grandson’s loosened memory (this plate, this place,
the man who consummated every grace,
“this food unto our bodies and our bodies to
thy use”); remembrance she leads us through –
Set the table as a bone is set. Separate
the ends to make a space. Be delicate.
The table cannot hold, nor can the prayer
or leaf, but who could pray for such repair,
or such relief.
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 23, Issue 1.
Born and raised in Texas, Josh Dugat now lives in Tuscaloosa, Alabama with his wife and son. He’ll never cook chicken fried steak like his mother, grandmother, or great-grandmother, but it won’t stop him from trying.See all items about Josh Dugat
