In my bowl there are twenty
shark-toothed vegetarians

Each with a surprise
for their vegan friends

Oh shit, there’s more vegetarians
in my bowl, eating

glass, popping
them in their mouths like olives

at a dinner party
where the most interesting conversation

is silence
each bite tears at their tongues

but they manage to keep
their mouths closed.

---

Jonathan Pessant is a Maine poet.