Posted on January 4, 2026 by Jenn Zatopek

THE ANTIDOTE TO HUNGER
– After Rebecca Elson

Sitting in a pool of cold sunshine,
I read your text, stare at the mountains
feel my heart collapsing. 

Later someone inquires politely,
disinterestedly–I’m sorry
a few words, a sparse offering. 

There are juncos, bluebirds,
Steller’s jays at the feeder feasting
on the food you bought them. 

But I am starving. 

What is the antidote to hunger,
the gnawing, thunderous avalanche,
this great maw of loneliness?

It is the vast desert of the Sahara,
your footfalls disappearing
with each passing step.

I am the sandworm burrowing
through cool darkness who devours
anyone who falls in my path.

Today I am the Cooper’s hawk
whose talons capture the mouse,
scaring away all the little birds.

I will crush your flesh to bits,
your body gone, transforming you
into something else entirely. 

There is no fixing grief. 

A friend texts out of the blue,
says the words I love to hear:
How are you? It’s been too long.

Image / Steve Smith from Unsplash