A ship at sea, metal glinting greed,
blue water mocking all that floats.
They meant to escape the ground below,
but brought its weight into the waves.
Two women, black and boiling over,
crash like waves in the buffet line.
Fried chicken, crisp and golden,
the last piece becomes the warhead.
The cruise staff doesn't blink,
they’ve seen this before —
spilled drinks, cheap perfume,
bodies breaking against the edges of hunger.
A uniform moves in, holds up a rulebook,
as if rules matter where anger eats.
Handcuffs glisten under fluorescent lights,
the grease still warm in the air.
They parade the women like storm flags,
hawked eyes whisper in every filthy corner.
Was it rage or just plain survival?
The smell of fried chicken lingers, nobody answers.
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Author:
gray0328 (
Offline) - Published: June 16th, 2026 09:47
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 17
- Users favorite of this poem: sorenbarrett, GoddessEYES, Friendship, Cheeky Missy
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Comments2
Gray you have taken the serious and the amusing and pitted them against each other in battle. A metaphor on one hand and reality that I have seen on the other. A joke turned philosophical a social commentary not on food alone but upon entitlement and greed upon human nature. Well written and a fave my friend
This really happened. You can find the video on YouTube under Carnival Liberty fight. I watched the FBI walk off the ship with a dozen in handcuffs. I have worked at the port of New Orleans as a security screener (X-ray tech) for twenty years and sadly it's getting worse.
Truth is stranger than fiction
Well written. Your poem explores themes of survival, societal expectations, and the instinctual nature of humans when faced with scarcity and competition, prompting readers to reflect on the complexities of human behavior in social settings.
Thank you for sharing your generous feedback. My poem reflects what happens when entitlement and grandiosity come together.
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