I have a purpose and don't want to lose any readers

Ordinary Saints
“Now is the time to loosen, castaway the useless weight of everything but love.” -- Malcolm Guite

Just a simple meeting of minds
around a table of Thanks 
(and a short quip of an author
from a conference) starts a reaction.

Around a table of Thanks-
giving, we share more than food.  Artwork
from a conference starts a reaction
that leads to much chewing and mental health.

Giving, we share more than food.  Art works
a magic in us all.  Horizons expand and
that leads to much chewing and mental health.
This poem promises a fresh start,

a magic in us all.  Horizons expand in
just a simple meeting of minds.
This poem promises a fresh start
and a short quip from an author.

--T.A. Sukany 21 Nov 2019

I hate to say it, but I am lost. I like how it sounds, and I wanna get it. I can't quite tell what it is that I'm missing, so I hope something below helps. Maybe Pat will get the poem, and I will slap my forehead and wonder why I didn't see that in the first place.

Stanza 1 - "table of Thanks" made me think of Thanksgiving. Then the first line of stanza 2 confirmed it for me.

I am picking up that they are sharing ideas and art around the table. In Staza 1, I'm wondering if the reaction is like a typical family conflict kind of reaction? Somebody mentions politics, and people get upset. Pretty sure I'm wrong here.

When I hear the word "reaction," I hear "negative reaction." Is this what you mean? Negative reactions can still be good things because it can make us ponder things we don't want to.

I think I'm most confused about the difference between the 4 stanzas. It seems to build and layer more meaning, but I can't get what meaning I'm supposed to get. 

I'm missing is what the quip from the author is referencing or suppose to get me to think.

I responded to this, but I don't see it here.  

I was going to add one more thing, and it's gone.  Any way to find it?  

Pat

Pat

The response would be on your computer.  I hope you can resurrect your response.

Todd

This is short summary:  
I like title.  Opposites.
I see the rhyme scheme and the repetition.  Strong in S 1 and S 4.
Quatrains.  Formal, but I don't know it's name.
Reminds me of when a few poets get together, brainstorm, feed each other... more than food.  
It expands all of us.
I don't care for "mental health".  What else might work?  
Okay, I'm sending this to see if you get it.

Pat

I know I don't use form often:  pantoum.

Todd

I liked your poem, but not sure about my interpretation.  
It took me to other groups and the fun involved.

I liked the title too. It really intrigued me. 

I'm afraid I'm lost on the rest. 

I do like how the poem sounds, though, and what it makes me think of. Good conversation with good friends. As Jane Austen wrote in Persuasion, "that is not good company; that is the best."  I have a feeling my college friend and your old student Heidi Dehn would love this poem. 

This time I noticed in stanza 3, "Art works" and I loved that.

Poets

I was introduced to Malcolm Guite at T-day dinner/lunch at the office.  This is the recording of that event.  The title his work is the title of the poem, thus the italics.

TS

Ohhh!!!! *palm splat on forehead* That makes sense.