B.A. Varghese

The Whopper box, like a tomb,
had a picture of one neat green lettuce lying
on one slice of succulent red tomato, probably
grown in the sea side of Sicily, resting
upon browned meat enclosed in a bun of wheat
and sesame seeds. I opened the box, took a hold
of my palatable poison, and bit down. I didn’t chew
much and I swallowed chunks whole. Any
other way of going would have been too messy
or at least require more on my part. This
was slow and painless. This would take years.
Methodical. Mouth-watering.
After the stake fries and Coke, that went
down like embalming fluid, I smiled
and just waited and waited for the end.

B. A. VARGHESE graduated from Polytechnic University (New York) in 1993 and has been working in the Information Technology field ever since. Inspired to explore his artistic side, he has earned a B.A. in English from the University of South Florida and is currently in the process of working toward an M.F.A. in Creative Writing. His works have appeared in Cleaver Magazine, Apalachee Review, Rose Red Review, and other literary journals. (www.bavarghese.com)