GOSSIP

Insufferable talk
a leg moves
under the table
on your long suffering
menu you choose
every time
we meet for brunch
given the sweet wine
in large goblets
you offer a toast
to challenge sexism
with a hanging celery
between your teeth
moldy from cigarettes
from the Casablanca
where you were a singer
as you take out
your lipstick and album
of our photographs
and papers of love notes
dried up as Moroccan figs.