Slice a baguette.
Spread a tablespoon of mayonnaise on one slice
and a teaspoon of Grey Poupon
on the other.
Slice a native tomato and arrange four pieces on
the baguette spread with mayonnaise.
Scatter Kosher
salt and cracked black pepper over the tomatoes.
Arrange three finely sliced discs of sweet
onion on top.
Cover this with four thin slices of brie. Marry
the top and bottom of the sandwich.
Cut diagonally.
The sandwich will provide refreshment from mid-
day heat and nourishment for lunch.
Think of Lorca
having had one of these sandwiches and not even
wanting a thing until at least
3:00 in the afternoon.
Imagine Whitman singing his barbaric yawp over
the rooftops of the world after having eaten
this sandwich.
Picture Djuana Barnes holding a half-eaten
Ultimate End of Summer Sandwich in one hand
while waving for a taxi
in another, and declaring, Paris was a woman, but
this sandwich is nothing less than rustic haute cuisine.
Wally–I loved all three of your poems, each of which presents you as a sharp observer of the present even as you’re mindful of the past (and future?). This poem is so sly, starting with an ordinary moment, then leading to contemplation of things far beyond the task at hand. Wondrous. Thank you! Paul