SARAH JAMES
A Last Supper
The hotel at the end of
the universe
has rocket-pads dotted across grey rooftops
which used to shine with solar panels.
None of them work.
The stars and stripes
flag has been replaced
by a rectangle of barbed wire and a single
life ring, though five-star fine-diners
also get complimentary whistles.
Guests arrive by
chauffeured dinghy, then
wade upstairs. All the beds are inflatables,
with bladderwrack blinds for the sun
and a vase of fresh shells.
Global shortages have
cut the 10-course
taster menu down to four, but our staff
are Michelin-rated experts
trained in seasoning.
The ground floor long
gone, our culinary
experience is always enjoyed in-room,
al fresco on the balcony, lit only
by the moon or a candle.
This way, no one can
tell what they're eating,
be it lab-grown lamb, rat goulash, toad-
out-of-the-hole or the chef’s special:
spider risotto.
Sarah James/Leavesley is a prize-winning poet, fiction writer, journalist and photographer. Her latest collections are Darling Blue (forthcoming with Indigo Dreams), an ekphrastic book-length poetry narrative which won the Geoff Stevens Memorial Poetry Prize 2024, and Blood Sugar, Sex, Magic (Verve Poetry Press, 2022). Website: http://www.sarah-james.co.uk.
It's not easy getting a book or pamphlet accepted for review these days. So in addition to the regular review section, the One Poem Review feature will allow more poets' to reach a wider audience - one poem featured from a new book/pamphlet along with a cover JPG and a link to the publisher's website. Contact the editor if you have released a book/pamphlet in the last twelve months or expect to have one published. Details here
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