The Last Supper

This is about my life; I invite you to come to my going away party. Modeled partly by the poet George Herbert.

Gather round this pilgrim’s table,

Those who yearn to be born from yore, 

Lost in flesh, yet rekindled from antiquity restored.

O praise thee who will rise from smoldering ashes sable!

My disciples, look not to the deceitful winds that stir,

For the one who betrays will meet his own fate in hell.

To whom do I owe the privilege, to hear the pallid sound of the knell

And to make this fullsome feast pure?

Fill to thine heart’s content on this last supper;

I shall lie where vultures can peck salty flesh from bone, 

Because all I have ever offered to the world has sown

Hatchlings of sorrows to those lusting to adure.  

Accept this invitation because I cordially invite you to go,

For my soul is the word to devour and will be forever so.

Author's Note

I challenge you to try to understand this. There's a lot in such few words.

Reviews

[Derek S.Keck]

Don’t be afraid to tell me how wildly inaccurate this is, but I’m going to give it a go and run with my interpretation anyway. This one is really perplexing! I love it! On the surface you use deep religious undertones as motifs to really express personal emotion. What really makes this work deeply intriguing is that mystical quality about it, which I think the sort of last supper, New Testament, biblical imagery helps create. The first stanza hits me as so profound but I'm not quite sure I'm taking everything out of it that I can (that sort of depth is what makes great poetry). What I see, however, is a gathering of kindred hearts (or heart singular), people(or a person) seeking a rebirth of sorts, hoping to find a deeper meaning in their (her) lives beyond the flesh ( or worldly things), things that aren’t forever. With lines like, “Those who wish to be born from yore” Makes me get that attachment that your speaker has to the past, and maybe that’s your gathering of pilgrims, kindred hearts yearning for something from the past that is restored to them, something that they thought could never return but rose from the ashes.

The second stanza starts to make me think that this figure from the past was a love of the speakers. The reason I’m sort of getting this idea are from the first two lines of the second stanza. I see a heart that gives in to the vulnerability of love. It’s like the speaker is sort of saying that they can’t control someone’s heart; they realize its out of their hands, but if that other person were to do something unthinkable, karma would pay them back. I’m seeing this idea of retribution in your line that says, “For the one who betrays will meet his own fate in hell”. There also seems to be a sort of cleansing of this moment in the last two lines of the second stanza. It seems the speaker wants the moment or “feast” to be pure but I get the sense that this figure has tainted his past with the speaker and to quote Coleridge, has an albatross around his neck.

The third Stanza seems to be the speaker giving in to this figure, with the understanding that it could be a possible death sentence for the speakers love. Yet, she (if I may assume ;) ) is opening herself up to it anyway, because she chooses to give into that vulnerable oblivion of love. This whole idea is then sort of wrapped up in the final, two line stanza, which holds a very powerful depth in meaning. It’s sort of saying, in my mind, so despite everything that may have been come in and share this feast of love with me, because the voice of her love trumps even the voice of reason and the events of the past.

[Audrey Howitt]

Hayley--this is just superb! You have a lot going on in this poem. This is a poem that one will come back to again and again--my favorite line----
I shall lie where vultures can peck salty flesh from bone,
Because all I hath ever offered to the world has sown
Hatchlings of sorrows to those lusting to adure.

Wonder, wonderful job!

[ब्र&#..]

i really loved this poem, great job, amazing write
alltid
-Meja

[A.E. Surdam]

Ooooooh! Love it. The deep meaning within the poem is brillant. I just love the challenge or reading a poem with hidden keys. :)

[Seshat Nidaba]

I actually love George Herbert, the rhyming scheme was amazing! The last two lines have a lot of power. It was very nitty-gritty and with such language, it felt like a nice combination.

[A.G Franke]

deep and sums it up. You right it is a challege and if I wasn't deeply religonous I would't have known. At times I to even go back and think about what I have learnded in Church.
Good work,
A.G.

[Zeitgeist Manifesto]

It's kind of ironic how people from all over the world have been brought together by this piece.

I thought it was pretty profound how those homeless strangers are transformed by stepping out of their pasts...then renewed...as their eyes are opened to a treasure that they rightfully are able to claim by heir. I imagined some becoming beings of enlightenment after conquering their pasts. I saw strength being given to those lost souls by ensuring that this temporal world can not undo what has been fated to be..so the changes that come with life shouldn't be allowed to govern their lives.

There seemed to be a bit of a confrontation...as the speaker declares they will be challenged..and almost dares the conspirator to show themself. They see that their heart will live on. The evil intent will only prove to make sure the last moments at this supper will create a future that is better than anything imagined.

The speaker seemed to state that they will not abandon their principals and die for what they believe in. They will face their enemies and are willing to die as an example....because anyone who wishes to step out of their own past and shine bright with enlightenment will be stricken with trials and tribulations.

Conspirator is stricken with the fact that the inspiration that was born from the speakers heart can not be contained by flesh. Its far too late to hit the mute button by ending any one life.

I tried to review what I saw.... The imagery was brilliant.

[.........]

I am at a loss for words at the moment, because Im searching for meanings.. the third stanza's line, "i shall lie where vultures can peck salty flesh from the bone, because all i hath ever offered to the world has sown" is probably my favorite part because it is nearly inviting vulnerability. I also like the last two lines, the rhyme was pleasantly expected yet worth it. "Accept this invitation because I cordially invite you to go, For my soul is the word to devour and will be forever so." Hmm......

[Creepy Swine Guy]

I see an obvious (photo was first clue) allusion to Christ and his last supper. Stanza one makes reference to the resurrection, and in the last line you refer cryptically to the Phoenix. S2 assures that those who contribute to the dangerous atmosphere will get their share of shal we say ... comeuppance? S3 seems to invite all to "eat their fill" and "party now" for soon the subject will be gone, which sounds like a promise or threat of suicide. But in the last two lines you make reference to the speaker's soul and not the flesh. This is where the reference to Christ must end, because Christ spoke of his flesh when he said ... "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." ... he was laying down his life ... his very flesh.

But the speaker here specifies "her soul" So this feels like someone who is crushed (has given up her soul) that someone else may be happy.

Thats how I read it.

[Neva Flores Smith - Cha..]

Amazing poem Hayley. I wish I had more time right now to analyze this one. Will you please send it to me in a RR so I can when I am not rushing off to work?

[Joel M Frye]

Lines 11-12 are probably my favorites in this write. The rhyming is superb; the numerous breaks in rhythm keep me from singing its praises as a sonnet. You have handled the archaic language very well, and it is in keeping with the subject of the poem. Overall, a wonderful piece. Thank you.