Tonight's Poet Corner: Banquet

Banquet
by Belinda Roddie

waiting for the blades to flash
waiting for
the existential crisis over axes
and rusty steak knifes, fornicating
lips over sips of red wine
steins heavy with evening dew
(not morning; that's too predictable)
so once you put them down
they melt
into amber just bright enough
to infuse your Excaliburs with

poor, sweet souls
of heroes, dipped in honey
and served to drooling bourgeoisis
poor, sweet souls
of heroes, marinated
and salted for the dames
with stronger stomachs
poor, sweet souls
of heroes, stripped of their
sweetness, until they drown
in brine, aristocrats munching
just where the bone ends
and the oxidation begins