by Ella Leith
I can’t tell you why, but this I know:
Wine tastes best poured from a carafe
and crisps taste better served in a bowl
and olives taste best – you may well laugh –
on toothpicks. So do sausage rolls
and gherkins lined up in a row.
And what I think is the height of class:
Drinking orange squash from a martini glass.
And something else, as well, is true:
Champagne tastes best not in crystal-cut
coupes and flutes, but when needed most –
un-chilled, and spilled into plastic cups
for the frenzied fun of urgent toasts.
For these big joys, nothing else will do.
But little joys should be savoured slow
– I can’t tell you why, but this I know.