Esophageal Yearning
this sounds violent / but it’s fun
Article voiceover
Our third BODY piece is a poem by Taylor Hunsberger about learning to cook while experiencing body dysmorphia. We were instantly smitten with its visceral food imagery — body horror with a side of playful kitchen experimentation.
You can also listen to Taylor read the poem using the voiceover player above.
I wanna finish your sentences Make myself a sandwich, Cheese, lettuce, tomato, Slice you up, smothered in mustard, the spicy one, no horseradish, I don’t like that kind You: the one on the left piece Gluten free, Revulsion side up Stir you in my soup Steaming hot, sweat around the bowl, celery crawling around your ankles star pasta in your nostrils this sounds violent but it’s fun garlic wound salty, no sodium broth, no bones I wanna be a balance beam breadstick In the oven, 400 toasting up my private parts I mean the liver, lungs, esophageal yearning half hour done we made molasses cookies oatmeal sense of home ghosts in your garden I heard them walk in the door take their shoes off they told me to sit down eat my green beans they told me to throw salt over my shoulders slug you off send you in the basement cut out my tongue stir it in soup smother it in the sandwich go for a picnic and tell myself I’m worth eating
Taylor Hunsberger is a food and culture writer, poet, and children’s librarian. You can find her writing at https://taylorhunsberger.wordpress.com/ and her recipes through her newsletter at https://gocrispgirl.substack.com/.
If you enjoyed this poem, check out two previous poetry pieces for our MEAT issue, Engorged by A.J. Parker and Mutually Assured by Natasha Matsaert, which examine bodies and sexuality through the lens of consumption.
