An Exercise in Erosion

With a diet of strained smiles
and small-talk we shout
ourselves destructive, cup our
secrets under knuckles, feed
a sickness instead—measure
success in the construction
of heavy, hollow shapes:

Where success, here, means
to win by losing, (see also: Piously refusing;
An incessant collection of
nothings; totaling tally lines
marking days with no additions)--

Where construct, here, is the subtractive
process of creation (see also:
Excavation, or to make by removing
earth; An exercise in erosion;
A wood-whittler's body of work)--

Where shape, here, is the container
that collects the recommended daily dosage
of disgust to be discussed
and then digested (see also:
Ritual; Re-resurrection; A hollow-chest
persistence for a rhythmic rise and fall;
Bodies proving hunger and emptiness 
aren't synonyms at all).