“Pigging Out” by Wanda Coleman:
–for Austin
at the restaurant we sit down to wine
we are so hungry
the crisp appetizers/early loves
and lightly seasoned salad
we’ve developed appetites for the garlic & onion of life
gorging on a main course of dissatisfaction
over frustrated creativity in
economic plight
he chews over his brooklyn childhood
i pick at the tedium of youthful watts summerswe eat away the lousy jobs stunting our talent
we eat away the hot smog-filled day
we eat away the war in the headlines
we eat away the threat of nuclear holocaust
we eat away love-threatening pressures
we eat away the human pain we see/feel/
are stymied by[pride is such thin dessert]
we eat until our smiles return
until fat and happy
(From Imagoes © 1983 by Wanda Coleman. Reprinted by kind permission of Black Sparrow Books and David R. Godine, Publisher.)
The Dish 