After the roast I put a quiet salad on the side

The roast is already on the table: meat, potatoes, the oven smell still in the room. Easy to decide greens “aren’t needed today” — and the plate stays heavy to the end. Beside it I put a quiet salad: leaves, cucumber or tomato, a spoon of oil, a drop of vinegar or lemon — on the side, not the main act.

After the roast I put a quiet salad on the side. A small salad as habit is another note; how I dry the leaves its own; a bowl of lemons on the table another story. Here it’s a quiet bowl after Sunday: to freshen the mouth after the meat — not a restaurant set with seven dressings.

I dry the leaves so there isn’t a puddle under the oil. I salt in the bowl, not “by eye across the plates”. If the leaves are already limp or slimy — into the bin, not under the dressing. I’m not competing with the roast: the salad is small, without a speech, simply on the table beside it.

I don’t need a supper where after the roast there’s only heaviness on the tongue. I need a quiet bowl on the side that the hand reaches for between pieces. At yours after the roast does a quiet salad appear — or already only meat to the end of the plate?