Cannibal Villanelle
Two candid cannibals, stirring in some spice,
one says, I hate everyone. Says the friend:
Forget them now, you just eat the rice.
Well, of course, that all depends on just how nice
it tastes and if one is anemic in the end,
muse two uncanny cannibals, stirring in some spice.
I was a hermit once and may yet do it twice.
Interactions make me batso, but I can not now pretend
to forget them, to eat nothing but the rice.
I wish these little gestures did not come at such a price.
The indigestion and regression is enough to send
any gentle cannibal off running for the spice.
Well, said one, perhaps just try a slice? After all,
there have been great feasts, though we do tend
to forget them. Now you just eat. The rice,
I think, is only enough matter for a minor life.
If we want the meat, we must eat the world,
agreed two cunning cannibals, stirring in some spice.
Such meals are best in morsels with much rice.
Two candid cannibals, stirring in some spice,
one says, I hate everyone. Says the friend:
Forget them now, you just eat the rice.
Well, of course, that all depends on just how nice
it tastes and if one is anemic in the end,
muse two uncanny cannibals, stirring in some spice.
I was a hermit once and may yet do it twice.
Interactions make me batso, but I can not now pretend
to forget them, to eat nothing but the rice.
I wish these little gestures did not come at such a price.
The indigestion and regression is enough to send
any gentle cannibal off running for the spice.
Well, said one, perhaps just try a slice? After all,
there have been great feasts, though we do tend
to forget them. Now you just eat. The rice,
I think, is only enough matter for a minor life.
If we want the meat, we must eat the world,
agreed two cunning cannibals, stirring in some spice.
Such meals are best in morsels with much rice.
~~~
Jennifer Michael Hecht
From my book Funny, where all the poems have jokes in them.
2 comments:
Ah, Ha!!! I love that one!!
thanks kathy you are the sweetest.
xj
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