“If you feel you hate everyone, eat.”
Toleration of hubris fattening like foie gras
from a firehose of constant conflict;
snide grin transformed into punchable face;
the two main offenders being
those who try to inflict their will and
those who try to inflict their pain,
taken often from the same menu;
from trauma to table.
I wonder if any lesson is learned
by walking away,
releasing the bad energy like
the breath before burning
a sage stick,
being the better person through
idle thoughts instead of ire,
drawing a lottery winner
by freezing angry finger;
wishing the silence of our leaving
stung like a thump on a melon rind,
or knock on the nose numbing the sinuses
like horseradish;
hoping that returning the bitter dish
to the kitchen reaches deep into the marrow
of a chef ugly to the bone;
for this is how we remain civilized…
or so I’m told.
©2026, Dan Schell, Flex Your Head Books