five things to consider during my time at the table

1.––  the vinegar-fly, or fruit-fly, as it appears zigzagging

over my quartered cantaloupe seeming to will itself against

landing on a hard surface like a flying Wallenda before the fall.

2.––  the glaze of the compact disc where music plays

when spun to its manufactured function.

3.––  it’s Bruno Maderna’s “Satyricon” where we find Fortunata,

Trimalchio’s wife, complaining of one thing or another.

this is expression personified, where italian gestural exaggerations

are deemed necessary to compensate for the stiff angularity

of the recorded language. 

4.––  and because it's laying there every morning, the little pink

oblong-shaped simvastatin pill which helps control a high-middle

range diagnosis of my cholesterol level.

but even when sung in English I’m done-for without

5.––  the "Satyricon" libretto.