Feeding the Worms
by Danusha Laméris

Ever since I found out that earthworms have taste buds all over
the delicate pink strings of their bodies, I pause dropping apple
peels into the compost bin, imagine the dark, writhing ecstasy,
the sweetness of apples permeating their pores. I offer beets and
parsley, avocado, and melon, the feathery tops of carrots.

I’d always thought theirs a menial life, eyeless and hidden,
almost vulgar-though now, it seems, they bear a pleasure so
sublime, so decadent, I want to contribute however I can,
forgetting, a moment, my place on the menu.