Three Poems – Eric Silver

“Do You Think Joey Chestnut Has What It Takes To Be A Man?”
On July 4th, 2014, competitive hot dog eater Joey Chestnut proposed to his girlfriend 
and fellow competitive eater, Neslie Ricasa, and then took his eighth title in the Nathan’s 
Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island.

When your father told me
you would be better off marrying a pizza
because it could feed a family better than me,
I devoured his house room by room. 
	
First, the coffee table, cracked in half
and dunked in paint thinner to soften wood
like buns in tap water.
Next, the bed frame, pillows, comforter
billowing goose feathers in summer confetti.
The library and the books, 
the silverware and the plastic.

When I picked the bullet shells
from his hunting rifle out of my teeth,
I burped, "I am a destroyer by trade
and she will always be safe."

The average American eats 70 hot dogs in a year.
On our engagement, I devoured 61. This year of fuel compressed 
to one day, a meat diamond pressurizing in my gut.
I am not rich or a good man
but look what I can hold inside me
what I can consume in your name.