Consumption by Lauren Scharhag

Someday, I will tell my grandchildren
about the wonders of chocolate.
It's especially painful when you think 
of how much was wasted 
on the cheap stuff, 
like Sixlets or Mr. Goodbars 
or anything with raisins. 
The Romans consumed silphium 
to extinction. It was so revered 
it was believed to be nothing less
than a gift from Apollo, 
printed on denarii,
rhapsodized in verse and song.
Imagine if the Romans 
had had chocolate.
What songs would have been sung,
what gods praised, 
what empires would have fallen.

Lauren Scharhag is the author of fourteen books, including Requiem for a Robot Dog (Cajun Mutt Press) and Languages, First and Last (Cyberwit Press). Her work has appeared in over 150 literary venues around the world. Recent honors include the Seamus Burns Creative Writing Prize, three Best of the Net nominations, and acceptance into the 2021 Antarctic Poetry Exhibition. She lives in Kansas City, MO. To learn more about her work, visit: www.laurenscharhag.blogspot.com