Frugality

 

 

why not empty

the already half-emptied purse

further still?  – one could, of course,    

 

conduct frugality tests with

selected guests to fathom who is

likely to survive and who might go under    

 

so, for Santa Clause

a cup of water and a mince pie

sprinkled with sugar-snow  

 

for John Cowper Powys

a cup of tea,  two raw eggs

and a slice of bread (butter thinly spread)    

 

for Judas Iscariot a splash of wine

laced with blood, a crumb of bread  

and a purse emptied on the floor –    

 

hopeful of being fed helpful hints about

how to be penny-pinching but not

penny-wise, the host receives instead

 

multi-grains of generosity; seeds of

a sound philosophy, and a grown-up reason

for accepting responsibility for one’s actions