Originally published 28\/03\/2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Content Warning:<\/strong> Cannibalism references<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n By Ismah Ahmad<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n How juicy, how sweet, this tender morsel that I eat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How filling, how chewy, each bite of this fatty meat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How it screamed,<\/p>\n\n\n\n How it begged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But here I am, enjoying this meaty leg,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and sipping on the finest wines, and snacking on goose eggs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They said that I was mad, that I had gone insane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But I assured them that it would feel no pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, I drained its blood, that crimson ink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alas the time had come for me to think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What to do with such a rare delicacy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why, such a cut would be sure to cause jealousy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then after a while a thought hit my head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ‘To accompany my meat with only the finest bread!<\/p>\n\n\n\n To press it with herbs of all different kinds,<\/p>\n\n\n\n add to season it with a glaze of citrus rinds.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n It baked, it boiled in the juices of its fat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All the while I enjoyed the smell as I sat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My taste buds watered, oh how they danced,<\/p>\n\n\n\n to see the crispy skin each time I glanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At last it was done, so I set it to cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Twas a fine thing, the dinner table’s jewel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then I ate and drank, then ate some more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Till there was a knock which came from the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In came a lady of beautiful face,<\/p>\n\n\n\n followed by a mob from the peasant race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ‘You monster. You vile, hideous thing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n You’ve eaten my baby; I shall tell the king!’<\/p>\n\n\n\n I wiped my face and cleaned my hand,<\/p>\n\n\n\n They all watched as I moved to stand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ‘Dear woman, do you not recognise my face?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am the king. Why, I am the one who owns this place.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n She cried, she screamed and I watched her tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then finally I understood her fears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For, I had eaten, and she had not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And after all I had feasted on her tot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then I replied with kindness at heart<\/p>\n\n\n\n and holding up the last, meaty part:<\/p>\n\n\n\n ‘Dear lady, do not fret,<\/p>\n\n\n\n for you can eat some too, my pet.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How juicy, how sweet, this tender morsel that I eat.<\/p>\n How filling, how chewy, each bite of this fatty meat.<\/p>\n How it screamed,<\/p>\n How it begged…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.northumbria.ac.uk\/onedgecreativearts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.northumbria.ac.uk\/onedgecreativearts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.northumbria.ac.uk\/onedgecreativearts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.northumbria.ac.uk\/onedgecreativearts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.northumbria.ac.uk\/onedgecreativearts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=219"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/research.northumbria.ac.uk\/onedgecreativearts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1536,"href":"https:\/\/research.northumbria.ac.uk\/onedgecreativearts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219\/revisions\/1536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.northumbria.ac.uk\/onedgecreativearts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.northumbria.ac.uk\/onedgecreativearts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.northumbria.ac.uk\/onedgecreativearts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n\n\nA Feast Fit For A King<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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