Collapsed Lexicon | Page 23

  manufactures  glycerol  and  uric  acid,  he  sits  expressionless.     Humpty  Dumpty  in  his  enraptured  stupefaction   at  falling  off  a  brick  wall,  only  to  shatter  as  though   nothing  whatsoever  was  the  matter,  mirrors  him.     Yet  in  his  mind  he’s  hoity-­‐toity,  basking  in  a  plein  air  paradise   of  nudes  posing  just  for  him  on  the  free  sex  website,   craving  his  passionate  advances  and  irresistible  body.     As  the  waitress  delivers  to  him  a  plate  overloaded  with   nacho  chips  that  boasts  big  scoops  of  crumpled  hamburger,     refried  beans,  jalapeños  and  melted  cheddar,  I  shudder  at  such       masochism.  I  doubt  even  Henry  VIII  with  his  total  lack  of  grace   or  concern  for  appearance  would  stuff  his  bloated  face   so  publicly.  What  beating  heart  could  atone  for  such  complete     emasculation  of  body,  mind  and  soul?  There  simply  is  no  home   for  one  so  lonely  and  displaced.  No  life,  no  God,  no  death.     And  then  just  as  the  Jets  cornerback  leaps  up  in  front       of  a  receiver  and  snags  an  interception,  the  waitress  arrives   at  the  glutton’s  table  with  another  plate,  this  one  featuring   a  giant  burger  with  mound  of  oily  thick  cut  French  fries.       His  trompe  l’oeil  reward  rests  in  perverted  pleasure     at  the  drowning  of  deep  depression  in  the  molten  magma   of  cholesterol  and  cancer-­‐producing  lipids.  He  digs  in,     bringing  a  wry  smile  to  his  distorted  face.  What  a  strange  race   23