Is there anything more tragic
than a middle aged man
work worn from the factory
deprived of all ambition
stood still and staring
while he heats up
a one-minute burger
in an old
beaten up microwave.
Plastic cheese
white hot
melts
over nuclear processed meat
the only thing that’s keeping him warm

Is there anything more tragic than that?

Probably,
but in this moment,
seeing it happen
right before my eyes

I’m not so sure that there is.

Andi Talbot is a writer from Newcastle, England. Their second chapbook “Old Wounds // New Skin” was released in July 2020 via Analog Submission Press.