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Eating Oysters in Easton (poem)

By W. D. Ehrhart

for Ron Ferrizzi & Scott Moore
3rd & Ferry Fish Market

So here we are together once again,
old friends for over fifty years:
an army infantry platoon commander,
an aerial scout with a Silver Star,
a Marine with a Purple Heart,
Vietnam Veterans Against the War
in the days when we were hailed by some
as heroes, and as traitors by the rest.
We've brought our wives today,
a hundred and fifty years of marriage
between us, and still just one apiece;
patient women, durable. Lucky boys.
The waitress just keeps bringing oysters;
we keep saying, "Just bring more!"
The check is going to break the bank
at Monte Carlo, but who cares? We're
happy. Who knows how much longer
we've got left, and we can't take it
with us. "Oysters! Bring more oysters!"

—W. D. Ehrhart