delectable main course
inspires taste buds to celebrate,
food artistically plated
and fine enough for a queen
served on dinnerware of precious China
in the formal dining room
to those dressed in tux or gown,
detailed attention paid
for proper preparation and presentation

side dish much less special,
least requested,
not on the main table served
nor from the silver serving bowl
bequeathed us by great-great grandmother,
but in a secondary dish,

faded Tupperware, perhaps,

these side dishes
worth no more than a glance
or maybe a hasty little taste,
usually thrown out as waste

maybe a dessert treat
if thought about
if there's time
if there's desire . . .