LINDA MALNACK

And So Because We Don't Want To

We do. We dangle the flame before
the wick and watch it grab hold like
a thirsty child or a madman handling

the merchandise who walks out
without paying. We've forgotten
what good weather is and what good

manners will get us—tea, asparagus,
a pot of mayonnaise gone opaque under
candlelight, dinner for ten with gilded

patrons and jewel-studded benefactors.
Everywhere there is a philanthropist,
someone giving, someone taking.