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.

[Coyote Poetry]

Beautiful and strong words made the poem a pleasure to read. I like the feel and the purpose of the poem. Every decision we make can lead us to a good or bad place. A outstanding poem.
Coyote

[FJ Davis]

Amazingly well-done. Demonstrates an unusual command of archaic language, while projecting no archaic concepts.
This poem was crafted by smart hands.

[Judy Ponceby]

melancholy thoughtful well written work. flows so well. excellent :)

[Robin]

you have such good rhythm and flow in your writing , the edge of your words keenly sharpened to a lustrous shine

[Lily Mae]

"For my soul is the word to devour and will be forever so".. powerful.. A great write..xx

[disconnectedspirit]

vultures ? goodbye..

[disconnectedspirit]

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

[Ecko]

This is pretty powerful stuff. I liked the way you worded things, all the "old" words. Greeat jobb :)

[Liz]

Very good, Hayley!
I think I have to say the first stanza is my favorite, but the whole thing is great(: