Ted Kooser's "Splitting an Order"

Today's poem is Ted Kooser's "Splitting an Order." I like to watch an old man cutting a sandwich in half,maybe an ordinary cold roast beef on whole wheat bread,no pickles or onion, keeping his shaky hands steadyby placing his forearms firm on the edge of the tableand using both hands, the left to hold the sandwich in place,and the right to cut it surely, corner to corner,observing his progress through glasses that moments beforehe wiped with his napkin, and then to see him lift halfonto the extra plate that he had asked the server to bring,and then to wait, offering the plate to his wifewhile she slowly unrolls her napkin and places her spoon,her knife and her fork in their proper places,then smoothes the starched white napkin over her kneesand meets his eyes and holds out both old hands to him. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe