When I drove home the girls in the other cars
had on dresses that hung off the shoulder
and sunglasses that reflected the street lights.
There were no men in these cars, but instead
on the street, in groups of t-shirts and ripped
pants, taking no notice of the women in the cars.

When I arrived home, the lights were off
and my cat had fallen asleep on my clean
clothes. I put my purse down and realized
that the feeling I had thought was hunger
for the past several days, was not hunger
at all, but a completely different emotion
that was related to consumption in the way
that hunger is related to a diet. To eat
what you want and what you don't want
and to feel guilty afterwards.