Be a good guest.
Resist the nectar of the fruit.
The sticky fingers
you’ll wipe on your lap.
Listen to the music when it fades.
You must let go of the summers.
The tic and the tok is the same music to me now, even in the later hour, if you dare to stay after supper.
So forgive me, if I leave without an excuse since you dance with young demons in the red theatre of your daddy’s dirty movies.
I’m the devil reincarnate, but an esteemed guest and a father.
Watch my name on place cards, in bold letters, on every table.
-
Author:
Parisab (
Offline) - Published: May 12th, 2023 02:34
- Comment from author about the poem: I started this poem in June 2018 days after Anthony Bourdain (whom hopefully needs no introduction) took his life. I recently read about some texts exchanged the last day. I completed this piece afterwards. We were so inspired by him for so many reasons. I thought that I should share this during Mental Health month.
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 22
- User favorite of this poem: Bobby O.
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Comments10
Thank you for the reminder.
Thanks for still caring.
A sharp comment - delete it if it's too much. Wikipedia says he was a drug-crazed so-and-so.
Any comments are welcome, but I’m not sure if I follow your comment and ask, poet friend. Would you clarify?
We had taken interest in his work and even met him in NYC briefly at his beloved restaurant. He had written in his biography that he suffered from depression and other mental illnesses, he was burnt out, and did not like fame. He had a life long battle with substances but was in recovery.
Otherwise his life was meaningful and inspirational to many.
Many factors such as depression, alcohol, burn out, and a broken heart were present but he would have probably been with us had he reached out for treatment and spiritual and family support during crisis. And that’s the message of mental health month.
I was trying to capture his philosophy of life and gracefulness. Our human frailties can make many vulnerable and covering up that fact, may lead to more people succumbing to suicide or accidental death by overdosing.
I see. A bit of Wikipedia made him look like some addict, mentioning several drugs he took, as if he was drug-crazed.
1 more comment
this reminds me of my feelings when I heard Robin Williams
had passed away
thank you! dear Poet
for this ever-Timely
and most necessary poem
'Listen to the music when it fades.
You must let go of the summers.'
that's why we have seasons
I think
to teach us change's
lessons of inevitability
and that for every Winter
a promise of Spring, awaits
we must never lose sight
of existence's small mercies
Thank you poet friend-yes I'm afraid he appreciated life and was graceful, but many factors such as his mental health condition, alcohol, burn out, and broken heart, made him vulnerable to suicidality-I wish he weren’t alone in that dark night or had reached out to a trusted friend…
I think I read somewhere when Robin Williams
took his life, his wife
was outside the door, doing her best
to save his life, or at least inure he wasn't alone
at the end
and I think, we must first get rid of the stigma
of suicide, so we can address it
as the plague it is, but sadly
we're too quick, to try and forget it
scared of its contagious menace
yet that only insures thousands of teenagers
choosing that same sad fate for themselves
every year
because they're too ashamed to seek help
to bring it up as a topic, forced
to wage their survival fight, alone
in their own lonesome mind's
2 more comments
I have no reservation whatsoever in emphasizing here and now, just how sadly and much, I liked and enjoyed this poem ..
Like you, I met him briefly, but in London where we were both dining (my son himself was a chef there) ..
There are many great chefs and many great personalities, but few deserve the pedestal that I would place this particular gentleman on .. and indeed, for many reasons ..
Neville
Thank you for your attention and sentiments -I appreciate you sharing about your personal encounter as well-great fact about your son also-
Far too little prevention work in mental health. By the time most of the patients I see come in they are set in their ways and it is costly in time and effort to make changes. Mental health should be given priority from infancy onward as prevention not treatment. A very interesting poem that keep thinking about. I am not as familiar with him as I need to be to completely understand the poem. It does seem to follow the thought process appropriate for this. Nicely done.
Thank you for your attention to the poem, as well as your investment in
Mental health.
It certainly hit me hard when I first heard and of course I’m still confused Nd still admire and enjoyed reading your piece and tribute. He was many things and sometimes the Devil creeps in. Thanks fir the write. I might need to reed this s lot to fully gather and I think that’s great. Much like Art Pepper’s tune Patricia , often heard in the great series Hieronymos Bosch.
Thank you for the close read poet friend-The texts gathered the final days exchanged with Asia Sergento are said to you triggered his depression and distress even more-when the public and private boundaries are crossed in such extreme manner, a sensitive soul can really shatter
Thanks for sharing the Elegy.. dedicated to Anthony Bourdain.
Thank you for your attention and care…
Superb tribute. Thank you for bringing to light the struggles we all have with mental health. Great poem.
Mental illness does not discriminate! His life was so inspiring and he snowed so much grace…
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