Leaving the Table

A poem that asks: Who has gone? Who is to come? Who remains?

Originally published on the Medium site Scrittura on Sept. 24, 2026.

One by one, they leave the table
and exit the scene:
Fredo
Sonny
Tom…
and Michael remains, alone

In art, in life and in death
they disappear into the dark of the set
foreshadowing their last walks.
Like Leonard Cohen’s last song, they leave the table
and check out of the game

Who and where are all the ghosts
who left our table?
Too, too many to count
the order almost unremembered

Who will be the last one at the table?
Puffing on a smoke
sipping a glass of wine
reliving a child’s faint yelps and family 
celebrating somewhere in the dark
beyond the sepia-seeped scene?

And what of the ghosts who left our table?
I remember them now, 
these and so many more:
Dino
Maddalena
Pete
Giuseppe
Frank
Bill
Aldo
Vince
and Dave…
Who is to come? Who remains?

Will it be just the two of us left?
Like the song, speaking softly so no one can hear,
not even the sky above
or the stony gods

Whisper sweet words in my ear
tell me the truth no one else hears.
Tell me you will stay by my side, always
at our table.

With appreciation for, and acknowledgement of: the final scene of The Godfather: Part II; Nino Roto’s achingly beautiful and sad theme song “Parla Piu Piano;” and “Leaving the Table” from Leonard Cohen’s final album.

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Claudio D’Andrea has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and online publications for about 40 years and has published a book of short fiction, Stories in the Key of Song. Visit him at claudiodandrea.ca or read his stuff on LinkedIn and Medium.com and follow him on Bluesky.