they come in cardboard boxes
or in clear plastic bag seals
just one of many varieties of
almost instant premade meals
they taste like compressed cardboard
every single one I've ever tasted
every time I've bought one
I've found it money wasted
maybe it's just my memory
but I don't know the reason why
I've never tasted one near as good
as mam's own made meat pie
my mouth has started watering
my taste buds in a state of lust
for her rich brown gravy
and inch thick pastry crust
baked in a huge old pie dish
supported by an egg cup
to let in the air and keep
the crust firmly standing up
she'd no electric cooker
just a little coal fired range
which though so old fashioned
for years she wouldn't change
and you would smell it cooking
the aroma drifting through the air
I didn't need a second shouting
to the table and pull up my chair
we didn't have much money
but there was so much pleasure
eating simple country food
memories I store and treasure
my wife sometimes buys me one
which I pretend to enjoy as I eat
for a kindness is a kindness and
she only does it for a treat
I tell her not to get one too often
but I really don't want to tell her why:
to me they all taste like processed card
after mam's crusty homemade meat pie
