Poems by Hayden Finkelshtain
By Hayden Finkelshtain
like itchy fishermen, scatter when the waves come.
I lie back on the chipped planks knowing they might touch my neck.
I breathe deep.
Put my hat over my eyes.
And welcome their fuzzy grazes.
I’m just visiting.
This is their dock.
“Pig”
By Hayden Finkelshtain
I made eyes with a pig at lunch
She regarded my chickpea salad sandwich from afar
I sat under a tree and stared down the barrel of her snout
She approached me slowly
Playing coy
Saying “I don’t see that chickpea salad sandwich, silly boy, I’m too busy
grazing”
First contact.
Snout to leg.
Then to arm.
Soft and wet and hairy and zealous.
Arm to wrist to palm to fingers to crust
She bit down
Chickpea juice ran down her chin
Aquafaba
She swallowed
Sat
Finally rested her chubby pink chin on my thigh
I scritched her tufts and patted her firmly on the bottom
We fell asleep in the shade
When I woke up she was gone
And so was my sandwich
“Pigeon”
By Hayden Finkelshtain
This pigeon right here
Is eating some sushi
I didn’t provide it
He had it when I arrived
I worry he might choke on the ginger
I don’t know how to take food from a pigeon
He swallowed it.
He’s fine.
- Hayden Finkelshtain is a Toronto-based actor, voice artist, and wannabe
writer. He has devoted the last number of years to learning about our food
industry, and veganism has gradually become an important part of his everyday
life. Hayden is interested in writing that deals with small interactions
between humans and the other creatures we share the Earth with, and believes
that injecting a bit of humor and light into what can often feel like heavy
subject matter would do us, and the animals, all some good. @haydenfinkelshtain