Appetizers

Appetizers

Parched and ravenous, yearning for 

           the sort of sustenance that’s altogether

substantial, they meanwhile guzzle gasoline for lack

           of what they really want: something with a kick, 

of course, but filling. I too survive on nibbles day 

           to day, so I understand the desperate plea

for meat around the bones—if only just

           to slice a sliver off the thickest edge,   

but slivers are all I have myself which complicates 

           the matter. It’s difficult to parcel out the inarticulate

in parts to share. Have you ever tried to pin 

           the last tomato with a fork? Or then again, 

perhaps a better image is cutting up a grape,

           but with a plastic spoon—it slips, to say

the least. Besides, emaciated in the inner part, 

           the clack of grating joints reverberates     

in such a way that makes it difficult to think. 

           I too am yearning for an invitation to a feast.