It’s a sad day when a beloved celebrity dies, especially one in their prime of activity, charm, and work.  For many the mere thought of depression and suicide, connected with a person so vital and outspoken, so downright successful, is hard to grasp. But reality has a way of rudely slapping us all in the face when we least expect it.

Reading FB comments and online articles and overhearing co-workers one quickly comes to see that Anthony Bourdain was seen by many as a love him or hate him figure from his best selling books to his popular TV shows, but he was, I might add, never inarticulate, never lazy, and never boring.  He was the bad-boy Chef of the culinary world, the voice of a generation of cooks, and the Indiana Jones of food and recipe exploration. You are missed, Anthony.

One Last Reservation
by Michael H. Hanson

You have left us for parts unknown,
bereft of all reservations,
for many years you chose to roam
but now will grace no more nations.

Your time on earth was one quick feast,
a grand and tasty layover,
your knives sharpened, your pans well-greased,
trim traveler and tall rover.

You penned the flavors of the day
giving the grandest cooks a tour
from corn-on-cob to Crème Brûlée,
sometimes pompous, never a boor.

Rock Star of culinary world,
truly Julia’s clever child
your life the nasty bits unfurled,
good and bad somehow reconciled.

Kitchen smile so confidential,
your spirit’s spices, essential
ingredients that made us laugh
with recipes, existential.

You truly understood the song
of food, and drink, and friendships strong.

*************
RIP Anthony Michael Bourdain, 1956 – 2018