Frozen Dinner

There’s no time anymore
so you learn to approximate,

find cracks in your life’s joy
-less tile to grout with pleasure:

not cooking but a simulacrum
of it, the three-sectioned tray

& thin plastic enclosing
icy blocks: potato and steak,

macaroni & the husks
of vegetables, all composed

in a parody of human warmth.
You still look for better fare

when you can, but you don’t
hate this anymore, thankful

as you are just for salt,
flavor, willing self-deception

and the ease of a microwave,
the tray that keeps on spinning

as you watch through the grille,
savoring a minute of calm.