Dinner Talk

I was born on the wrong side of the track.
Now, contrary to what you might think, manners, and table manners in particular, were instilled into us.
So at the age of 12, invited to the banker's daughter's birthday party, I was shocked to find that table etiquette was less rigidly adhered to than I'd been taught to expect...
I soon abandoned my early training....

Dinner-Talk

My father used to say
"You can't eat and talk!"
He wasn't giving us a choice.

My mother said
"Tuck your napkin under your chin."
I tucked mine tight

and watched in silence
napkins splayed on laps
mouths savouring syllables.

It was years before I learnt the art
of dinner table conversation.
I talked too much- overcompensation.

The delight of wielding words with tongue -
I never listened
to anyone.

Copyright with Cathy Leonard 2016