Lunch with Paul #3 Santa Fe Basque Hotel
/Paul’s 73rd birthday lunch
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This particular sunny day
was Paul’s 73rd birthday,
A Leo, born on August 19th.
So I took him to lunch
At the restaurant of my choice.
I drove him to the Shepherd’s Inn,
935 Santa Fe Avenue,
The Basque restaurant
Across from the Santa Fe depot.
The dining room was empty
When we arrived at 1:00,
From the hallway to the door.
The waitress saw us
From the window in the door,
Came out of the kitchen, told us
Lunch tickets were sold
In the bar next door.
Lunch, Basque-style was $15.
We sat down at the end
Of the long boarder’s table
Near the swinging kitchen door.
Lunch began, bread and butter,
And a bowl of vegetable-beef soup.
Then came the salad, just lettuce
With oil and vinegar dressing.
Then, what everyone desires most
At a Fresno Basque restaurant,
The potato salad with shrimp,
A plate of cooked turnips
And boiled green beans.
Paul was busily eating his lunch
As crumbs fell from his mouth
Into his beard and he smiled,
Unable to uphold his end
Of the conversation while eating.
Paul asked the young waitress
About his friend, the cook?
”Oh, he died last month,” she said.
No wonder the food tasted so good.
Our main dishes arrived,
Paul had fish, I had tri-tip beef.
There was red wine on the table,
So Paul poured himself a glass
Toasted himself in a quiet prayer
And used it to wash down
The amalgam of food in his mouth.
Like Gelsomina, in “La Strada,”
he smiled and wiped his face and lips
With the back of his hand.
For dessert, a plate of hard cheese.
A fitting end to our birthday meal
We struggled to finish.
By Stephen Barile
From: United States