Harold’s Chicken Shack #35

fried gizzards w/ fries

your dad orders it for you
and you are too young
to know what you’ll have
to swallow in this life and
too old to refuse food.

the beauty of good sauce,
thick and sweet, is that it
is equality for all manner
of fowl. you know this
crunch and thickness
around your tongue.

what changes is texture.
gizzard is stubborn,
muscular. you grind your
teeth like nervous sleep
to eat. you push all the hard
down your throat, away
from your taste buds.

gizzard is a bird’s first
stomach. they pick the small,
rough rocks and gobble them
to their gizzard. these stones
help the avian break down
what they consume.

you swallow difficult shit
like stones and gizzards
and if you’re lucky sauce
might help. and if you’re not
praise anyway. the gravel
is necessary food.