we sat together
and ate our pizza
as if everything was okay

we watched together
as a bird hopped along
with a beetle as its prey

we stared together
as the violent bird
ripped the beetle to shreds,

his ferocious beak
tearing away
at the beetle's oozing head

we gawked together
as the beetle tried
to free herself from his beak

a fight to be free
the outcome bleak-
i was grateful for the company

i wondered if the beetle
understood
the permanence of dying
i was horrified
you were fascinated-
both of us fell silent

the empty shell
of the beetle fell-
the bird hopped away unfazed

we sat together
and ate our pizza
as if everything was okay