the lunch menu

Inspired by Starbaby's "old friends and the W.C.

the lunch menu

I am picking through the trash

behind Writers Cafe,

and even the throw aways are good

once I wipe off the misspellings

and the cutesy rhyme

until they slant towards my pocket

where my bottle of inspiration

is wrapped in its paper sack

along with the few poems I was writing

before I got too drunk

to walk my pen steady

Some of these are really good

I could go on a bender drinking these

gems in

but then I would wake up in some gutter

probably rousted and almost dead

all my poetry gone

my bottle of inspiration empty

and the flies buzzing around

my titles

hoping they can get through screen

and drop fly dung on them

before I get them posted

Oh to be a poem on the wall 

watching all of this

instead of a maggot crawling over

dead syllables

and long lines of postured writing.

I can only imagine

a day I can afford

to actually go inside the Cafe

and meet some of those poems

the ones put in a doggie bag

after all the readers were sated.

erin-cilberto

11/22/23

Reviews

[W. Barrett Munn]

That strange/awful feeling of re-reading and never sure what you’ll find, the same words bend my mind into pretzels salted or unsalted and I never know which I will find.

Winston

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I will take unsalted please...salt is not good for my heart.
j.

[Alisa Js]

Quite the interesting visual on the obvious. This is a most creative poem, my friend. Happy holidays to you from Hawaii.🏝️

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, Alisa...and Happy Holidays to you.
Right now I am binging on an old tv series, Hawaii five 0...the original one with Jack Lord.
coincidence eh?

[Alisa Js]

Total coincidence indeed. So nice to read your words. Sending you wishes for an amazing everything....

[Soren]

"along with the few poems I was writing
before I got too drunk
to walk my pen steady"
How deep this stanza dives into my psyche. A great metaphor Jacob. A little lighter than some of your other writes but I was in a mood for a light meal after the past feasts that needed more time for digestion. If this was in the dumpster out back I'll go there myself for a taste.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your kind review, Soren,
j.

[Sami Khalil]

I hope this is not a subtle swipe at a known writer, that this said author did not make Jacob fazed or irritated at something. In any case, I felt the satirical aspect of it.
Empty inspiration! Lol

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Oh gosh, no. Sami...no swipe...a poey Starbaby wrote inspired this.
Her poem was really good...
and yes, totally satirical.
j.

[Sami Khalil]

Ah, ok. Just wondering. You are welcome sir Jacob.

[Chris Shaw]

Neither lunch or the poetry in the trash here, come across as appetizing. And you a maggot? And doggie bags lol. I reckon though there are plenty of gems in the backstreets if you go looking. Visually funny J.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I feel like one sometimes.

Thank you for your words, Chris,
j.

[Chris Shaw]

You are a vanilla milkshake. I love em:)

[Julie McCarthy (juliesp..]

Wow Jacob I haven’t lost my appetite yet lol for writing and eating too

Anyway loved the clever metaphors and message here

Here’s a drink of coffee or tea for you I added a poetic sweetener on the house !

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thanks for the sweetner.
j.

[Julie McCarthy (juliespenhere)]

Lol. I’m diabetic 2 but sometimes cheat.

[Relic]

There'll always be gems lying around somewhere. Finding them is the fun part. Some have been lying there for years, I'll bet. The writer being long gone.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, Relic.
Dickinson left 1770 Gems lying around...and they were found...and got one of the best poets ever out of the deal.

[FGFRANKLIN]

Trash and flies and maggots, oh my. Did somebody's writing come here to die? Okay, so my rhyme is cutesy, sue me. But I don't think I'd care to dine in this establishment after the proffered description. I'll at least wait until the health department makes them clean up their act. (laughing) Eh, I wouldn't come here sorting through the trash looking for inspiration. Life is out there, full of inspiration, just waiting to be lived. And then, you come home and write about it.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

This is a very clever response...and you know that I admire your work very much Fabian.
This poem was inspired by Starbaby...and a very clever and funny poem she wrote about WC.
Ideas just drop out of thin air it seems.
j.

[FGFRANKLIN]

My own writing has always felt like a surreal (almost out of body) experience to me; like I am a conduit through which the inspiration passes and sometimes I'm able to grab a bit and jot it down. After this holiday I shall have new material, I'm sure. (laughing) Is it time for Christmas vacation yet?

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I have always told everyone who has said I have talent as a poet that I am simply a conduit. THat is how it has always felt for me. I write like Frank O'Hara...in a zone, in bunches and then suddenly it stops and I am done...and I don't know where the hell it comes from...I almost feel like a plagiarist...

[FGFRANKLIN]

Ditto. The muse visits when she wants and casts her pixie dust and flits away again. But I'm always interested to see what gift she's left behind.

[Starbaby]

You know, I've given this whole thing some thought, and I find it rather odd that I am now reduced to inspiring a man to write not of love and undying devotion, but of fly dung and maggots. A lesser woman might get some sort of a complex. ;-)

[jacob erin-cilberto]

You are too funny...and could never be considered a lesser woman...
Thanks for the inspiration...
j.

[Arundass TP]

Writerscafe really is poets hub. There are thousands in a day penned with a desire. Some made me in tears, some dark and horrific, many on love and affection, but I see very rare poem under humour category. I want to laugh aloud reading such. Good work.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

without humor, we die inside.
Thank you, Arundass.
j.