Angles on a Feast

ladies’ luncheon:
shell crack and finger suck
strong red nippers
powerless among these
white bones, nail crescents gleaming

each watches the others
lips crustacean shiny
pursed to kiss foreign flesh
and pale throats like larks
the rise and fall
such inappropriate slithering
easy as mothers’ milk

there’s conversation too
daintier than doilies while
in rouged and chapless cheeks
mutton is wetly tucked,
tongues released for lashing

and under the table
the maltese and the marmoset
trade views on goatee fads
their soft brown eyes
judgeless but impudent
among slender ankles
unwittingly bared