Food For Thought Poem by William Cavanagh

When I was a young lad
in grammar school
the teacher told us
that society deems it necessary
that one must chew their food
at least 12 times before swallowing

Years later
a girlfriend told me
that it was good manners for
one to chew their food
no less than 40 times

This to me
was a huge contrast
concerning opinions about
how much
one should chew their food
I have since experimented, and
I found them both to be mistaken

I have found
that the food’s texture and
density will dictate as to
how much
one should chew a certain food

Now the teacher is no longer my teacher and
the girl is no longer my friend
but sometimes when I am eating,
I think of these two people
and I begin to count the chews again.

I mean Christ,
have you ever tried
to chew porridge 4o times
Better yet, have you ever tried
to chew your ex girlfriends
over cooked steak just 12 times

This raises some serious thought
for me about manners, society,
teachers and my choice of girlfriends