When one dips their bread
into the sauces and juices
that remain on the plate after a meal,
Italians call this ‘Scarpetta’;

A practice employed when a dish
is so rich, so deep with flavour and emotion,
the diner feels compelled to consume
every drop, every morsel.

Sampling this, one of life’s
most essential and delicate joys,
warrants such devotion, such adoration.
A love supreme is ‘Scarpetta’;

It is the only way I can
describe my desire for you.
I want to drink deep at your well,
become lost in the ritual.