consumption is family

we still loved each other
or that’s what the salisbury steak told us
as it was flaccidly pried from the lips
of someone who had died doing what they loved by an employee who hated what they did
who also mopped our filth from the bathrooms
and sometimes performed funeral accommodations if there was a hole big enough
he knew us better than what was left of our families
so it only made sense he mourned us
with others longing for similar peace
the buffet itself served as a mechanism for orgasm or death
sometimes the sensations being indiscernible from each other
both were priced at $5.99 on Tuesdays
and we were never quite sure which we sought
so long as our plates were full
we’d dutifully succumb to either without much interest
sometimes I could still feel you amongst the coils of meat we were lost in
resuscitated by the same heat lamps our parents were
other times
I could only feel the dull caress of pulverized animal parts
in some ways, that too reminded me of what we once had
warmth was warmth
and the air conditioner never stopped
and new holes were always being dug