Parable of the Dinner Party

She entered the party like a caped queen

her heels lifting herself up to thinner air

almost to where she wanted to be

she saw the table spread with boutique finery

charcuterie and artisanal cheeses and duck liver pate

red and white and bubbling wine for every course

she approached the gathering and saw on the far end

the out-of-fashioned, the rough handed and wrong spoken

the servants and migrants who picked the butter lettuce

on the near end she saw well-labeled suits

handbags with leather and metal clasps

that look of confidence in the eyes of the highly educated

she saw one chair near her with those of her kind

she sat and mingled and sipped wine and laughed controllably

and knew which fork to use for the appetizer

the host came and thanked her for taking

the seat at this end and assured her warm voiced

that someday, she too, could join him at the other end