By MEHREEN ZAKARIA, February 23, 2022
you use a steak knife to cut steak
that is Law.
in front of you is a steak
your favorite food.
it sits there, cold and untouched
do you wish to eat this steak?
you put the steak in the microwave
according to the instructions,
1. Cook the steak on high for 7 minutes
2. Carefully uncover, turn, and recover
3. Continue to cook on high
you stare blankly at the revolving steak
do you need to eat this steak?
beep beep beep
your 7 minutes are over
you stare blankly at the warm steak
you know you messed up step 2,
somewhere around the recover part,
but you have no choice.
after all, can you afford to eat anything but this steak?
you cut the steak.
according to 4-H Virtual Farm,
a good steak is
“juicy, tender, loaded with flavor, and has a minimum amount of fat” but as you cut your steak,
you frown
you don’t remember what a
“juicy, tender, loaded with flavor, and has a minimum amount of fat” steak even tastes like
you cut the steak.
but steak is your favorite food!
after all, when you were younger,
your parents would make you steak on your birthday
your sibling would fight you for the better steak
your dad would laugh at the sight of you two
your mom would yell that the steak’s getting cold
and you would eat your steak
…
why do you like steak, again?
you cut the steak.
the hairs on your skin start to rise
in your cold, untouched house
the only breath you can hear is your own
lights start to pour in from outside
flashing reds, blues
you can now hear more sounds
a gunshot here, a siren there
and you feel subtle warmth from your steak
you cut the steak.
but you don’t really want to eat it
after all, you stopped eating steak years ago—
birthdays aren’t really fun anymore when you have no one to fight with
you’d rather not know what a steak tastes like
or recall the memories that come with it
you cut the steak.
today is your 18th birthday
“happy birthday to you!
you’re 102!
you smell like a monkey
and you look like one too!”
you wish you could hear that voice again
but they’ve been 18 for 5 years already
you cut the steak.
it’s not looking too well, though
maybe you should’ve tried harder at that recover part
you drop the steak knife.
you are done
in front of you is a steak
your favorite food.
it sits there, cold and untouched
the flashing lights are gone
but a bath of red continues to grow beneath you
you use a steak knife to cut steak
that is Law.
but when you break the Law,
you pay with your life instead