the apple and the lamb

i don't think

about the lamb when i eat lamb,
or the chicken

or the cow when i eat
a steak

or the pig in his mud
when

frying bacon.

i don't think about the life
i'm

about to eat,
but instead boil potatoes
to go

with it,
or corn, or butter

a square piece of bread.
i am grateful

for the life they lived.
just as i am for

an apple
when plucked from a tree.