A Roman Feast – A Poem

My first prompt for “A Roman Feast” was the image at the very bottom of the page of a Roman serving vessel. I began to imagine what was actually served in it – which led to peacock, snails and dormice.

More of my ekphrastic poetry here. More on free verse here.

Ancient Roman Feast

To the sound of a poet orating,
I drink my passum raisin wine and recline.
Homer. Languidly, more wine.
Stifling a yawn, with my right hand,
I brush aside the peacock feather,
More wine, Virgil, stuck
In the peacock meat-balls,
To reach for a milk-fattened
Stewed snail with garum.
Then a well-sauced flamingo tongue.
Flatbread, an orange, and grapes –
Reminds me, Horace, more wine!
And, as a follow-up snack to dine –
a single walnut-fed, roasted,
honey-dipped dormouse.

©elsp 2025

According to The Met: “This finely worked and ornate vessel was used for serving food or drink at dinner parties or for pouring libations at religious ceremonies. Such high-quality bronze paterae often have a wolf or ram’s head finial to the handle.”