Sunday, April 6, 2025

Prodigal Son - Feb 16 2025

 

Prodigal Son

Feb 16 2025


Big beefy men 

are out on the deck

in the cold depths of winter,

hatless and gloveless

and cheerfully hovering

over hulking steel rigs

that are sleek as a Ferrari

in brushed stainless steel.

Contraptions

adorned with all the levers, gauges, and knobs,

and accessorized

with every utensil a man could want

grilling burgers, dogs, kebabs.


As if winter was incidental

As they don't feel the cold.

As if they were Napoleon

marching on Moscow

and shrugging off the weather.

And anyway, doesn’t cold sharpen the appetite?


Spatula in hand, they stand attentively,

anointed

with the sweet smoky smell

of singed beef and burning fat.

Proud

to be master chefs

providers

manly outdoorsmen.


No domesticity for them,

toiling in the kitchen

preparing a wholesome meal.

Instead, they are hunters

not gatherers,

braving the elements

in the great outdoors.


And then

at the perfect doneness

breezing in

with a triumphant stride

in a waft of ice-cold air

bearing a steaming platter of meat,

grinning expectantly

like the prodigal son

returning to his admirers.


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