Mostly depends on your seat. The Israelites feasted on dry matzah, yet wept over the rich manna direct from heaven. The man opens a can of tuna, a meal for one too lonely to prepare a meal, and eats half. He gives the rest of the can to the tabby cat who feasts heartily, then settles on the man’s lap while he watches the flickering of the yahrzeit candle
***
Written for Poets and Storytellers United Friday Writing, The Sunday Muse, RFP, RDP
Jewish Young Professional 
A good job of fusing the two prompts together. A song of sharing.
I did both, two worlds apart.
..
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Thanks!
I can’t comment on your blog because I don’t want to comment under my gmail, but I really loved your Feast or Famine? piece. It’s is such a spot-on description. I wish such polarization wasn’t the case, but you described this so well.
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Poignantly imagined!
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Thank you!
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You fused image and words together beautifully! And introduced me to the Yahrzeit candle ~~~
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Thank you! One nice thing about writing poetry on my blog is that it is easier to put in links for Jewish references. If this were a print poem, I’d either have to put a glossary (not my first choice), or hope I’d added enough context for the reader to get enough of the meaning.
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Your words, accompanied by the image, evoke both sadness and joy—the lonely old man who shares with a friend, who, in turn, shares companionship with him.
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Thank you! Yes, I wanted to capture a sense of loneliness and companionship. I’m glad this came through.
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It did for me…loud and clear.
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Fantastic poem. One’s feast may be anther’s famine. The old man and the cat are prefect.
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Thank you. I realized after writing this one that in my poetry, I usually don’t have a) characters who are not me and b) characters who are not human. I think I should explore putting other characters and animals into my poetry.
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Critter characters add a lot to one’s poetry. Especially for me because I have a lot of critters who are characters.
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You do seem to have many characters in your life.
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Almost all critters, too. I’m not very social. I have a lot more blogger friends who I have never met, and who I will most likely never meet than I have in-person friends.
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I can understand this. Humanity can be awfully overrated sometimes. The animal friends (and bloggers) can be better company.
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Many of us are well behaved on-line. People don’t believe me that I’m a cranky old curmudgeon most of the time. But there are people that the anonymity of being on-line brings out the worst in them.
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I hear you. I think I have a better personality online. I’m certainly funnier online. I’m not as quick on my feet with witty quips and responses in offline in-person conversation. It takes time to come up with humor! I’m also very petty and judgmental in offline life.
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I think the online humor helps to get the in-person witty responses up to par. However, I can be pretty pathetic with in-person conversations because I still have chemo-brain. I’ll go from sharp and remembering the tiniest details to where I can’t remember the name of the person I’m talking to in an instant. It’s really frustrating. That’s way silly songs and delivering papers at conferences is good. It really forces me to focus on remembering and keeping on track.
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That’s a good point. My childhood Rabbi may he rest in peace was super into things like repetition, memorization, song, etc. to keep the memory and mind sharp. There’s definitely some truth to that. Chemo-brain does sound frustrating
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I think memorizing is good, but I’ve always been bad at memorizing. I would never make it as an actor because I would forget most of my lines. I read an interesting article the other day about how some of the best actors and actresses were/are supposedly rather stupid in real life. Marlon Brando and Meryl Streep were two examples cited by the author. Apparently their ability to memorize and take on characters fills the void that is occupied by people with normal intelligence. I was thinking about SNL’s Celebrity Jeopardy while reading the article. I wouldn’t say that most actors and actresses are truly stupid, but there seems to be a good share of them who often say really stupid things about politics and current events.
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I used to be fairly good at memorizing. But while my singing voice isn’t irredeemably awful, I have no acting talent whatsoever.
I don’t think actors/actresses are inherently stupid. I think that as a society, we are stupid for paying so much attention to what people who are not experts on public policy and whose main objective is to remain relevant enough to keep getting cast, say about policies/issues they do not necessarily know anything about. Granted, uninformed people are allowed to have opinions and vote too – this is part of democracy. But the amount of attention we give to celebrity opinions is a mistake I think.
I’ll note that there are celebrities who actually have done real, meaningful work (beyond performative activism) to address problems, eg. Ashton Kutcher’s work on human trafficking, Nikki Minaj funding a village in rural India, Dolly Parton’s contributions to literacy and COVID vaccine development, Bon Jovi’s pay-what-you-can community restaurant work, etc. I want to give credit where due.
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I don’t know who Ashton is, but Nikki, Dolly and Bon Jovi are smart cookies. But then again they’re musicians and not screen actors. I agree totally on giving celebrities too much attention.
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Lovely! 🥰
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Thank you!
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Friendship with a cat is very special.
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It is a very special kind of relationship
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I like the juxtaposition of joy and grief. Beautifully put.
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I was hoping to capture that loneliness and companionship. Glad that came through. Thank you.
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I like the sharing of the tuna with the cat.
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I do too! Meals are better with friends.
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matzos and yahrzeit – a perfect byline for this photo
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I kept “Feast or famine” as a working title in part to link to the prompt, but I think “Matzah and yahrzeit” is an intriguing title for this. Appreciate the suggestion!
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This is all too real for many people.
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Yes. I feel for this man. He has the company of his cat, but I sense he is lonelier than he lets on.
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This is truly food for the soul!
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Thank you, and thank you for the prompt inspiration!
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Depends on your seat at the table, so true, and you perception of “feast.” I’m thinking of “satisfied” and “nourished” as the in between.
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Or even if you have a seat at the table. Or if you were expecting a snack or a full meal. Everything is expectations, really. And yes, there is a state in between feast and famine.
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Having a cat that loves tuna (with a little olive oil) I love this short poem. And love the juxtaposition from manna to tune. Well done.
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tuna, of course, I meant.
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Olive oil, huh. Classy cat you’ve got there! Thanks
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The Yahrzeit Candle fits in amazingly, in all meanings.
To me it opens up a history of the man.
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Yup…gives you that sense of missing someone. Even with the well-fed cat purring contentedly on his lap. Thank you
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A poignant little sketch – well done!
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Thank you!
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My pleasure, darling.
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That was a whole story in one poem. When I got to the last line mentioning the yahrzeit candle, my heart ached a bit for him.
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Glad to hear the whole story came through!
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I am so glad he shared. But wish he’d cooked a little rice to go with it for himself!
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When you’re one person eating alone, it doesn’t feel “worth it” to make rice
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“Feast or famine depends on your seat” potent archetype.
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Thank you. I do think there is a lot of truth in this. Perception is heavily influenced by expectations
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You’re welcome.
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Wonderful! Thanks for referring to the RFP 🙂
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Thank you for the inspiration! I admit that “bread of affliction” and “manna” are perhaps a bit of a stretch, but tuna fish is a definite grocery list item, so I decided to count it. I’ll keep an eye out for future Fridays.
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Awesome 🙂
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I love how sharing with someone can help ease the pain of loneliness (especially someone dependent like a pet).
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It can, right? I like that the man has a companion to warm his lap. I sense he is still lonely though. But certainly having a pet helps.
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A tender moment beautifully described, JYP.
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Thank you!
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Marvelous post. You captured the feeling beautifully. Anyone can share it they think to.
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Sharing does help to ease the loneliness
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Yes, it does.
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i like this, i like the contrast between the man and the cat, the feelings of both loneliness and companionship within a single act, very well done. also, thanks for providing the links… i like it when poems teach me things
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Thanks! One of the nice things about blogging is that I can just put in links to all the Jewish references; if this had been published in print, I would have had to put in a glossary (which is not my first choice) or write well enough such that the context came through without explanation.
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Perspective is a certainly on the tongue and tummy of the beholder. This one evokes interesting emotions. I feel bad for the speaker, and happy for the cat.
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It does depend very much on the tongue and tummy of the beholder – this is a good way of putting it. Thank you
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