I am amused when I read Cathy’s poem HOW LONG WILL IT KEEP – even for a second or third time. Haven’t all of us stopped to take a breath when we look closely at an expiration date of a prescription container, a filet of fish bought at a “REDUCED SALE” cost lingering in the fridge, or a jar of peanut butter that hasn’t been opened in three months? Will it be perfectly all right, or merely taste bad, or poison me?
Cathy’s poems often take everyday experiences most of us share and then change them in an unexpected direction. This is one of those poems – you will be pleased that you read it!
Tim
HOW LONG WILL IT KEEP
All my life I’ve worried
about expiration dates.
I study the salad dressing,
peer at the sour cream,
read the fine print
on the peanut butter jar.
Use by, best before,
good until, discard after
–warnings that strike fear
in my heart, make me throw away
what my husband calls
perfectly good food.
I have an irrational unease
of eating something spoiled,
but is it really fine today,
and bad tomorrow?
How much leeway do I have?
And now that I am old,
I wonder what my
expiration date is, my
use by, best before,
good until, discard after?
Maybe it’s best
not to think about it,
to simply carry on
beyond my prime,
and assume my shelf life
is like that of Twinkies:
everlasting.
To Read Cathy’s previous poem THE RED PLANET published in the NESTER – click here
Oh yes, I like