Fast Food

Fast Food
Back on the road, he unfolds the paper,
carefully like feet scuffing the grass.
I listen in the dark to the nature made known
by the chewing, the animal and its cud,
the hooves clopping down the trail.
The slurp becomes a nearby stream,
water rolling over the smooth stones,
churning onto rough rocks, yet unbroken.
The shaking of ice: a distant thunder
no one fears and from which none seek shelter.
And finally the wrapper crinkles in his hands,
as freshly fallen leaves crumpled under toe
along the path to home, to safety, to sleep.
He shrugs and tells me he’s satisfied.

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So the inspiration from this came tonight when I was driving back with some friends from the Temple near Raleigh and we stopped off to get some food at Wendy's because they were hungry. After we had our food we talked a lil' while until suddenly there was silence and I could hear all the sounds of them eating in the car. And it dawned on me how many of the sounds could be compared to nature. And then I thought, "Well that's just a cheap replacement." And then I decided I ought to write a poem about it. Just as sometimes we're "satisfied" by cheap replacements for food, so it is with nature and life in general. And that's sad. Hope you like the poem!