The Feast

socrates returned

to visit diotima

and found her sitting

on a beach

facing the water

he knew right away

that this was metaxy

the place she resided

the realm of in between

She looked up and saw him

and beckoned him

to join her

where she had

spread a blanket

and laid out a feast

so he climbed down a ladder

from the cliffs to the sand

and as he got closer

he saw sea creatures

laid out in rows

like an abacus

retrieved from

the ocean floor

she had named each creature

after one of the gods

and together

they ate them all

as they watched the sun

heavy with the

day's memories

slipping ever so slowly

into the billowing waves

of the voracious sea

and when

the sun was gone

the sea became eternal

but they were still mortal

alone on the beach

yet they laughed

and reminisced

as the night thickened

around them

and slowly they recounted

the old lessons of love

then she got to her feet

and folded the blanket

and they walked

toward the cliffs

where he kissed her

and promised

he would always return

and with the

immortals inside him

he made his way inland

through the realm of forms

toward the rising sun

by Howard Gipstein

Copyright © 2022 by Howard Gipstein