Ode to The Table or I Like Tables...

Last week my brother-in-law who is a table-maker offered me a sweet deal.

A pick-up load of wood-pieces (left after tables are cut out) 

 for an I Like Tables Poem for his Staff Christmas Banquet last night...

And since there is no What's for-supper post to share because I was not home last night

I took a few pics of tables around our house

because tables hold a lot more than just supper...

Kitchen Table...

often heaped with projects in progress

Front entrance table holds 'warm welcome' arrangements

Dining Room table hosts hobbies as well as dinners

 End table...

Ode to the Table or I like Tables

I like tables, they make my heart sing

A table can be used for almost anything

So I’d say an ode to The Table is due

A tip o’ the hat to tables, black, brown and blue

White tables, green tables, espresso or pink

Tables are great in any colour, I think

Ebony, ivory, distressed wood or gold

Stable tables brand new, tables wobbly and old

I like tables

End tables, coffee tables, console tables, oh

Accent tables, night tables, table for the patio

Side table, foyer tables, and drum tables are nice

And a good kitchen table, worth every penny of the price

Drink-tables, work-tables, nesting-tables and such

Dining room tables please me ever so much

Conference-card-ping-pong tables all thrill me lots

Office tables, picnic tables, and tables for tots

I like tables

Industrial tables, farmhouse tables, tables shabby-chic

Scandinavian, Mid-century, modern or antique

Wood veneer, laminate, marble, metal, glass

And my personal favourite, solid wood of course

Sofa tables, times tables (oops, wrong category)

I like tables that hold many an olden story

I like small tables, tall tables to set by a door

And tables that always have room for one more

I like tables

Whether they are dressed in fine runners of silk

Or blessed with the mess of cookie crumbs and spilled milk

Whether set neatly; plate, cup, fork, spoon and knife

Or covered with clutter of everyday life

Whether they are smudged by little fingers or nose

Or polished so shiny every speck of dust shows

Whether they are freshly finished or weathered

Tables gather families and friends together

Oh, I like tables

Round tables, square tables, oval, hexagon

Rectangle tables that can stretch on and on

Tables for serious talks or celebration

There is a table for every (kind of) occasion

Tables for simple fare like bread, jam and tea

Or laden with food prepared for company

Tables where doctors say ‘you can hop up here’

Tables to pull closer to one aged and dear

I like table

(if it gets too long this verse is optional)

Tables are a little like (some) people we meet

Some sound and solid, some flimsy and weak

Tables also come in sundry shapes and sizes

They hold the predictable and grand surprises

They hold homework that births both groan and hurrah

And babies that bring out our best ooh and a-ah

They hold many memories of moments so dear

Oh, tables are so much more than they first appear

I like tables

I like tables where chatter and glad laughter bubbles

Where we gather to ponder challenges and troubles

Tables for fellowship, courtship, playing games

Or counsel when someone slips (let’s not mention names)

Tables for banquets, family altars, flower-bouquets

Tables are handy in all manner of ways

A place to pour bushels of freshly-picked beans

A place to share God’s Word, prayer, hopes and dreams

And no matter what makes other furniture ‘staples’

None of them equals the versatility of tables

Therefore, I like tables, they make my heart sing

And make most meals feel like a prize fit for a king

I like tables, oh, yes I do

And I hope, after hearing this poem

You like them too

© Janet Martin

...and the best part of this story...in the morning while splitting wood for kindling
and eyeing a quickly dwindling wood-pile I had prayed
'Oh Lord, help me find a way to get more wood'
and lo, a few hours later this 'bargain'
Thank-you God!
I can breathe easy as I attack the wood-pile!