vignette

If I was around when Chardin was around

and he was a friend of mine and I was a friend of his

and I walked into the room where he was painting a new one,

I might’ve advised him not to paint that slab of raw salmon,

but maybe paint a nice plump pear instead. or a cabbage.

man, would I have been wrong.

every tom-dick-n’ harry was painting pears and apples

and bananas on a table where the fruit bowl sat.

but that slab of raw, bloody salmon! man-o-man.

I could sense it frying in a pan, snapping and sizzling

in a bed of olive oil (if olive oil is what was used back then)

clove of garlic, a pinch of salt & pepper, and a drizzle of fresh lemon..

anyway.––  better to keep my advice to myself is what I do now.