holiday gluttony

see note for reviewers.

as america’s gluttons gear up for a day of

mass stuffing of the face

to celebrate the

genocide of native-americans in this country

one can’t help but find the dual-speak

concerning the

need to be

t

h

i

n

n

e

r

to be a humorous inner monologue which plagues the minds of those who

stand in the check out line at the grocery store

flipping through the glossy mags

hoping that one day they will be able to flatten that stomach out

enhance those muscles & breasts

as well as gain fuller more lush

lips

amidst all the other physical attributes of the

beautiful people.

 

the thin-minded glutton walks a fine line at the family table

as s/he stuffs themselves but in the same moment

counts each calorie going in

with the foreknowledge of just how much exercise &

dieting it will take to work it off.

 

in fact, the conversation at the table might even

dabble between talk of how much said individuals have gained

or lost throughout the year

as the buttered rolls are passed.

 

meanwhile,

in the rest of the world

people who cannot stuff themselves in the name of genocide

envy the occupants of the empire

(whose thumb they are pinned under anyway)

already thin (and not airbrushed)

for what it is that they need is

nutrients, clean water, protein &

a better life---

and as we pass the candied yams

we are glad that we are not yet living on the streets

with the 40,000 or so registered in NYC’s homeless shelters alone

or for that matter

unable to buy food because our weekly budget is stretched so very

tight

because we are unemployed &

waiting on the next check.

Author's Note

“I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land.”

-Jon Stewart