“Chili”

By Thomas Page

Prompt #7

You will need fresh beef

Because no one wants to eat some rotten thing you brought up before dinner.

It’s best if it comes from the grocer.

First, cook the meat until its brown

Or whatever you decide is brown

Doesn’t matter

Then season it with a McCormick packet

And cook it with the fat.

Let it get encrusted with the seasoning

Until your choice hits your nose.

Then, open the cans and put the tomatoes and kidney beans in,

Try to do it before it burns

Because the beef will tell you about it

As you fiddle with the can opener

That is somewhere

You know it was somewhere.

Somewhere that made sense

To you.

Let the chili stew for about 25 minutes

Or until you can’t take it anymore

And devour the whole thing

Like a lion in famine

Leaving none for the rest.

Cover in sour cream and shredded cheese

Masking what you made

In favor of the cooling feel of dairy

That,

Like Absalom,

Gets caught in your hair covering your face.

They’ll talk about it.

Maybe even write a hymn

Or let their tongues dance like peppers

Crushed into dust

And vacuumed-packed.

Store any leftover in a Tupperware

That never has its own lid

And give up

And shove it

In the fridge.

About a week later

Discover the vile stew you made

And question why you even did it in the first place.

Serves 3-5 people