Ten Meals I Don't Remember Eating #1: April 4th, 2006, Providence, Rhode Island

My friend keith changed his last name to
stegosaurus which people imagine cute or threatening
depending on their relationship to reptiles He did not choose it for its diet
He chose it because it has a brain 
comically tiny compared to its bulk

When i am on stage i play
the carnivore Full of lust
​Empty of stomach People see my teeth
Hear my stomach growl
I have never looked like a gazelle

I was hungry after a show
Pasta or soup or a sandwich
Something barely mealworthy but probably delicious
had been gifted by the venue And this strange boy
invited himself to my table

I was hungry but the boy did not look
like meat Not even a carrot
seasoned to resemble something substantial

I was hungry but not
fishing for compliments when the boy
smiled his approval of my show

If a cow says it admires your ability to
milk a metaphor you should not eat it

If pig tells you you are
beautiful when you're filthy
you should not eat it

It is never acceptable to eat something that imagines
you have something in common but that
you are more skilled at it than they

My friends knew i was hungry and told me how
appetizing the boy looked How he inflected
an invitation to dine on him

I know i look like a carnivore
I'm always talking
about hunger and the most delicious looking 
beasts who ever caused me indigestion in the night

I do not view men or boys as prey

I was hungry
Another carnivore offered his throat to my teeth
My pride said bite