Ode to Eugene Walter by Jeff Grill

Ode to Eugene Walter by Jeff Grill

Mobile had its own Renaissance man—

home from Rome after forty years

as poet, playwright, puppeteer,

pal of Plimpton at the Paris Review,

frolicker in Fellini flicks, in varied roles

but none such fun as priest and nun—

different films, of course.

Back in Mobile at Termite Hall, Eleanor and Adelaide—

sisters, not nuns—offered hospitality.

He called on friends for transportation,

abetted Sue Walker launching Negative Capability,

wrote of arts and cooking—delectable dishes,

taught us how to properly bake a potato—

no tin foil—that’s steaming, he said.

He eschewed dead dry dust in the shaker by the salt—

preferred freshly grinding green or pink peppercorns,

wrote for the Azalea City News and Review,

EWEW—Eugene Walter Every Week: food, recipes,

critiques of chamber music performances

(some he hadn’t attended).

He spoke often of his dear friend, Mr. James Beam,

He liked that handle.

Dinner at The Pillars with Eugene Walter by Jeff Grill

Spring 1980:

Early evening–

literate conversation with Eleanor, Adelaide, Eugene, porch of Termite Hall.

Later:

dined at The Pillars. Ate well, drank much.

Eugene requested, bread, butter, peeled garlic cloves—

some consumed with gusto, others with trepidation.

More surprising than raw garlic, Eugene paid the bill.

Still later:

declined Eugene’s invitation for a nightcap,

navigated to my rented digs in Springhill Manor,

reeked of garlic through all my pores for both days of my hangover.

March 1998:

Eugene departed this life.

He is buried in Church Street Graveyard.

March 2009:

an event of the Southern Literary Trail Celebration—

“Dinner at The Pillars” with menu by Eugene Walter.

Jeff Grill is a retired professor of special education, avid bread baker and road cyclist. He participates in Sue Brannan Walker’s ongoing poetry salon. His nonfiction has appeared in Mobile Bay Magazine, Alaskafest–the Magazine of Alaska Airlines, The Single Parent, and the Azalea City News and Review. He lives in Mobile with his wife, Linda.