Once, a Lifetime

I had a free lunch;

long I thought, and

it wasn't by ticket

or digital coupon

I didn't swipe a card

avoiding debit or credit

or otherwise shameface

self or neighbors;

It was brought to me

quietly in the dawn

like a mouse gnawing

the small opening to a barn

a simple open-eye affair

real or imagined

that is all

on deathbed hay

I repainted my banquet

with a milliard hungry

mental brushstrokes

for lack

of material, and words,

and could

almost taste

every last living morsel

disappearing as quickly

as it had all appeared

free... and not free