Good evening. Your table has been waiting. And may I say You look devastated. How absolutely promising. Come in, come in, surrender your coat That lump in your chest, that catch in your throat Your brave little smile is exquisitely strained A delicate glaze over well-seasoned pain You’ve suffered in silence? How terribly rare We mostly get heartbreak with too much despair But yours has been resting, unspoken, suppressed Just look at that sorrow! It’s perfectly dressed A tremble of doubt A shiver of shame A memory gently flambéed in a name Don’t swallow it down Don’t leave it inside The maître d’ recommends that you cry Delicatessen! Oh, what a selection! Your misery served with immaculate care Delicatessen! Divine imperfection! A mouthful of mourning, a vintage despair The guilt is exquisite The grief is divine Your ruin has body Your tears finish fine Delicatessen! My sweetest obsession Do suffer again While I open the wine Taste it Turn it Let it breathe Every broken heart Has something underneath Tonight we have panic on porcelain plates A reduction of dread with resentment and dates Regret lightly salted, then aged in the lie That everything happens for reasons Oh my! Your envy is earthy, your loneliness clean Your anger arrives with a peppery sheen But this little memory, bitter and blue Was somebody loved A little more than you? Oh. Oh, that is magnificent. Who hurt you? I simply must thank them. A fracture of trust A garnish of blame Abandonment folded through layers of shame Don’t hide it away There’s nothing to fear The finest emotions are cultivated here Delicatessen! Oh, what a selection! Your misery served with immaculate care Delicatessen! Divine imperfection! A mouthful of mourning, a vintage despair The guilt is exquisite The grief is divine Your ruin has body Your tears finish fine Delicatessen! My sweetest obsession Do suffer again While I open the wine Happiness spoils if you leave it too long Joy has no depth and contentment’s too strong Love can be lovely, but love without ache Is merely a morsel A fry cook could make But hope Hope is remarkable. Hope keeps the victim from going quite numb It sweetens the knowledge the worst is to come A bright little herb on a banquet of loss Still green when I nail your last dream to the cross Give me the hour when courage gives way Give me the words you were frightened to say Give me the moment your faith becomes doubt Give me the scream You won’t let out! Delicatessen! A standing ovation! Your misery never looked better than this Delicatessen! A rare combination Of terror and tenderness Chef’s kiss! Your anguish is fragrant Your heartache is prime Your breakdown arrived At the perfectest time Delicatessen! No need for discretion There’s always a table For torment like thine! Your fear Delicious! Your shame Superb! That lifelong resentment An underappreciated herb! Your doubt Decadent! Your loss Sublime! And what is that flavor? You’re running out of time. Delicatessen My sweetest obsession Each crack in your voice Is a treasure to me So when you are broken Come pay me a visit Your table is waiting And suffering Is complimentary. To your health. Or what remains of it.
