Botticelli grinned
with egg tempera congealed
at the hinge of his lips
Velasquez licked
shine from an aubergine blackened
in the shadows
Vermeer picked
pearls from a jar labelled
silverskin onions
Turner stirred
through the steam mist risen
above Venetian chicken soup
Monet decorated
a blue plate with sliced
cucumber and radishes
Gauguin sniffed
a sponge cakes desiccated
coconut and sighed
Van Gogh spat
a gristle morsel
at a swirl of Provençal sauce
Cézanne reached
for the fruit bowl but dithered
between apple and pear
Dali tweaked
moustache and swallowed
a sheeps eye with relish
Bacon tore
at turkey leg
his neck twisted in hidden fury
Pollock drizzled
ranch dressing
about tossed Waldorf salad
while Freud spooned
one more pickled walnut
to an off-white napkin next
to the last painter unknown
a child still that sobbed
over eggy soldiers
