by Matt Dennison

the apple you core
the squash you boil
the melon you
slice

the onion
you cut the
potato you
skin

the celery placed
between porcelain
teeth the tomato
you stew

the carrot you peel
the lettuce you strip
I touched with my
hands
  
and I do not vote
and I do not wash
and I do not pray

and
all of me
you eat.

 

[After a rather extended and varied second childhood in New Orleans, Matt Dennison’s
work has appeared in Rattle, Bayou Magazine, Redivider, Natural Bridge, The Spoon 
River Poetry Review and Cider Press Review, among others. He has also made short
films with Michael Dickes, Swoon, and Marie Craven.]

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