Supper at the Buttery, by Thomas Heffernan

It was delicious . . .

smoked salmon pate, barley

pureed, brown bread, stout;

in earthy crockery, oiled

lightly, the freshest lettuce

Irish whiskey neat . . .

nightsmell of new grass wafts in

through an opened door

From “Gathering in Ireland,” poems by Thomas Heffernan. (New House Books/Milton Mass: 76 pp., $8) Copyright 1996 Reprinted by permission.