Ground Beef
i grew up
with the cold
of new england
admiring the
occasional
moose and
hunting deer
you raise
and slaughter
hogs for
a living
in the
heat of
meat factories
and corn fields
i've aged
to swear off
bacon to think
hot dogs
are disgusting
even at
a ballgame or
a country fair
wherever
assembled
christ
what's left
to say to bridge
the distance
between us
if you think
the nation's over
and you long for
another civil war
i want to rescue
the animals your neighbor
breeds in the puppy mill
that you ignore
you want to frack
for more gas
drill for more oil
bring the temperature
of civilization to a boil
you like to pretend
that anyone with
a different point of view
is about to come
break down the door
of your ancestral home
so eager you are to
stand your ground to
not back down to
shoot to kill over
nothing that matters
i've come to feel
much of the same
distrust of you
about the evil
i now believe
is bred into
the meat
you sell
your bones