Tempus Stato (Time Stands)

I wrote this in 1997 for the San Francisco Slow Food Society. Like all of my poetry it is designed to be read aloud.

TEMPUS STATO

On Olympus Epicurius
We'd live outside of time,
Where hastiness is mortal sin,
And gulping... is a crime.

T'would be... could we,
Dine... at geologic pace,
Every bite an eon savored,
An epoch... every taste.

Whole lands before us would appear
To be eroded piece-by-piece,
'Til at last with sourdough,
We sop up the very least.

Without sorrow... without pity,
We'd laugh at those below,
Who barely stop to breathe... less eat,
As they scurry to and fro.

Every sip of wine... millenia,
A century, 'tween each plate.
T'would it be, should we,
To dine... at glacial rate.

Like Culinary Colossae,
We'll live outside of time,
Where every pleasure lasts a day
And impatience... is a crime.

5 October 1997

Dedicated to Arthur Bierman, friend, advisor, employer, and the coolest landlord ever.