An Ordinary Table

an ordinary table:
shoved up
against the wall
of the upstairs guest room,
thick with the dust
of being forgotten;

an ordinary table:
stained with the tears
of the mother
watching her children
go off to school
for the first time;

an ordinary table:
polished with the elbows
of family members
leaning forward
to hear the stories
Grandpa has told
a million times;

an ordinary table:
scarred with the initials
of children
bored with their homework;

an ordinary table:
rushed into service
so that
an ordinary group of pilgrims
from Galilee
might eat together;

an ordinary table . . .

(c) 2006 Thom M. Shuman