Hunger & Me

I have a pet sadness called Hunger.
Kind of a no-brainer really, the name.
Like calling a black cat Lucky
or a barn owl Brains.

I say he’s my pet but all I do’s feed him.
I feed him days which is what the vet
says they like, days and more days,
but there’re never enough days.

Sometimes I peer in the mirror and
think I see Hunger staring back at me.
They say this happens sometimes,
people start looking like their pets.

He’s not a purebred, of course.
There’re bits of emptiness there
and tragedy and regret and
he has the eyes of a defeat.

I try to tempt him with the odd treat,
a moment of peace or clarity,
but he sniffs and turns away.
I sometimes read too much into that sniff.