Mealtimes by Sue Burge

Mealtimes

the dining table   lies in state   ringed with antique chairs

but every meal    is taken   at the white formica breakfast bar

even Sunday roast   spreading its fatty tendrils   on the cooling plates

four teak stools in a row   facing a blank wall   each brushstroke visible

the food tastes of resignation   my father simmers   with the potatoes

the knives and forks   are just knives and forks   the formica is heat resistant

the plates   are more interesting   than the food

and when my father bangs his fist   our cabbage shifts   just a little

Sue Burge is a freelance tutor, mentor and editor based in North Norfolk. Her poems have been published in a wide range of journals and feature in themed anthologies on science fiction, modern Gothic, illness, Britishness, endangered birds, WWI and Laurel and Hardy. Sue's first pamphlet, Lumière (2018 Hedgehog Poetry Press) explores Paris’s cinematic and literary legacy; her second pamphlet, The Saltwater Diaries (Hedgehog Poetry Press) was published in 2020. She has three collections out with Live Canon: In the Kingdom of Shadows, Confetti Dancers and The Artificial Parisienne. The latter examines her edgy on-going relationship with Paris. Her eco-angst collection, watch it slowly fade, was published by Yaffle Press in July 2025.