give the mourners ham and veal
while the master lies in his bedrest
men seated in the kitchen with their
googly eyes on the girl keeping them
fed on master’s pantry
waiting for the fatal blow
blood entitles the guests to dine on
whatever stores the property contains
and the young layabout also ill and
the aged scholar husband also ill
gloom persists
he states he has made his will
and swipes with his gold-handled
cane at the intruders
has a man a right to swing at his blood
undocumented how he acquired property
yet depth of detail on ethic of girl
preparing death feasts for cousins et cetera
asks the wrong mother for advice
nature of provinciality
word is deed and only so few chances
the doctor considered kind of a laborer
not as desirable as the big landowners for
marriage material
provincial overlaps much with superrich
in cities too just fewer books and worse cut
of trousers or jib