Consider the plight of old food.
The congealed egg gesticulates, spilling her ninth glass of wine,
claiming she could have been a chicken, soaring majestically over all you dumb motherfuckers.
This is not just lies.
She was hot, desired, asked for, and surrounded with warm companions.
Somehow, though, time skittered by, friends departed,
turning her yolk cold, her edges hard, and her future bleak.
Now there is nothing left but the scrub pad, the spray nozzle and the disposal.
Uneaten bacon sighs, recalling mobility, corn cobs and enticing sows!
Where is yesterday's jolly sun and days spreading out ahead like the world's most magnificent wallow?
The young roll their eyes as bacon's eyes light up,
warming to his subject, reliving the glory!
Like an old actor in a shuttered theater,
bacon has no stage but the walk-in cooler,
no mark but the edge of its cardboard box,
no applause but the hum of the refrigeration unit.
Imagine having an expiry date stamped on your skin!
Imagine that it has already passed!
Consider the plight of old food,
the muffin, the corn flake, the butter pat, scorned and forgotten!
Hash browns have feelings.
If you prick a pancake does it not bleed (syrup)?
Does the orange (juice) fall far from the tree?
Ask not for whom the busboy's bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
_________
for Sunday Muse #205.
I will have eggs over hard, no oooops that's me and my aching back. I love this Shay! Your use of metaphor of our lives and expiration dates and pancakes has made me grin ear to ear! Brilliant, and I love it!!
ReplyDelete"Ask not for whom the busboy's bell tolls; it tolls for thee." That's hilarious. The stark loneliness of bacon, the abandoned soul of orange juice, the pancakes stumbling through the streets at dawn looking for an angry fix.
ReplyDeleteWhat a personification of the mundane! Only, you could have come up with such a masterful display of imagination, Shay, Bravo :)
ReplyDeleteI love your magical use of personification, Shay. Beautifully rendered imagery, as always.
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
David [ben Alexander]
http://skepticskaddish.com/
I was looking forward to this with great anticipation this morning and I am not disappointed--but in a different way than I thought. I was sure this would be one of your hilarious nonsense pieces, and on one level it assuredly is, but--maybe it's just me--on another I'm identifying with all the old food and feeling like my entire life has produced nothing but indigestion and a fast journey to my expiration date. Laughing so I don't have to cry at this bit of genius. Especially the chicken.
ReplyDeleteYour poem is brilliant! Every clever line. Going to think twice about what I put in my mouth …. Obviously food has feelings.
ReplyDeleteI am echoing Helen - this is brilliant! Cannot tell you how much I admired/enjoyed it. I identify with the bacon in particular! Out of date and out of fashion! Thank you Shay.
ReplyDeleteThoroughly enjoyed reading this.
ReplyDeleteThe imagery is so powerful that I could see it all.
Magnificent!
Every line in this is brilliant! Absolutely loved reading it, Shay!
ReplyDeleteHow you made a poem about old food so moving is beyond me. Love your poems, Shay <3
ReplyDelete