‍                     Night Eaters

         Humming fridge lights finger

            Monsters dining Fig Pie;

        Of sinful lips brined with saliva—

  Cheers to fruity flesh and swollen souls

  Marinated in the hunger of the night.

         “Lord save us” beasts wail

           Drunkenly awake in their

         Shriveled confectionary lust.

                    Foolish beasts.

               Did they not tell you?

              Sugar’s a hallucinant:

                   On her platters

       Salted caramel was never stale                             

  Fat, golden apples buttered the mouth

     Soured icing became sickly sweet—

        Childhood rolled back in a bite.

                    Sit monsters.

Crawl from every shadow to the supper table.

                Be poised and lovely

     —Sunk thy heads into temperance—

   Oh. (one monster pricks the cherry pie):

   A claw or two digs into her gooey flesh

                           Stop!

   She is maddeningly sweet and sultry

Sugaring beast and beasts in gooey diabetics:

  A hundred monsters bathe in cherry syrup.

                     For a moment

     They forget this treat was paid for.

                Turn on the lights.‍

              God cannot save them

Monsters were never in the beginning or end.

                   For God’s sake!

                  Turn on the lights.

                       (Light on)

             “Honey, what’s going on?”

           I hover on a kitchen counter.

                        Fork in hand

 Half empty fig pie, cherry pie and apple cake.

             “Sorry mom. I couldn’t help it.”

‍

Written By: Nicole Hur