food
is such
an easy thing
not to waste
just eat
what you have
make something
new out of
what you already
made
my mother
was a
magician
at this
not to be trendy
or semi-homemade
but because
that is how
she was
raised
and she raised me
to be the same
in a country
that is terrible
at conserving
where there
is shame
attached
to certain kinds
of consumption
whether we
eat
too much
or too little
where
we can afford
to buy
our meals
how hard
we try
to eat
every
last morsel
i live in
a country
that tells me
this is sad
and the world
where these
habits are
common practice
are, in other ways,
culturally
foreign to me
so i’m here
eating leftovers
in america
thinking
about scarcity
watching
abundance
be wasted
trapped
in capitalism
from wallet
to gut
narinda heng 