Maiko Kikuchi, Clamming, 2014 (Artist Website)
Paper and acrylic paint on colored paper
Somehow the groceries cost too much. We pawed
the bags—out the cornflakes but not the bread,
bleep the milk jug starting to sweat.
What else could we give up? Not the Bisquick,
not our gorgeous pancakes swelling on the griddle,
air bubbles popping, plump blueberries
plopped on top and bursting. Somehow
the box at home squirmed with larval worms,
opaque, the same color as what they ate.
We threw it away (does heat kill latent
eggs?), drank powdered skim instead of fresh,
a blue rim where water tried to separate.
Drink it, she pled, insistent as moths
plinking their heads against the kitchen bulb.