The Allegory of the Pizzas by Lisa Richter

Playful and entertaining writing..

There were two pizzas, and we ate

neither of them because they were delivered

to the wrong address. For days we could dream
of nothing else, no matter what we stuffed

our faces with. Each pizza would have come

with its own carefully chosen toppings:
on yours, Thai chicken and crushed rose petal,

ground into a paste; on mine, picket fences

and the footprints of baby shoes.

Oh, we had other meals, ordered in

because suddenly order took on a new

importance. We took down all our books

then re-shelved them all by texture.

More than once, we declared

each other out of order and in contempt

of the court of private opinion.

Eventually, our plants had to water us.

I made a slipknot of your hunger,

slid it over my wrist. You turned mine

into a sail and resented me when the wind

puffed it over the lake. What…