Never on Friday

It was only one day a week
But
I hated going home
To that odor
I swear you could smell the
Muggine in Bianco
Or the
Baccala
From the school yard
I never understood the tradition
I wanted meat
Big fat burgers with
Greasy French fries
Sometimes my mother would put the
Cioppino
In front of me
And I would cry
            For meat
Like a cannibal
I craved the taste of the
Flesh
And I would eat behind their backs
At the basketball game
Or the pep rally
Like a heathen
But they never knew
It wasn't the only commandment
I broke
On Fridays
While they ate my Grandmother's Patate e Tonno
I forgot my religion
            Ignored the rules
And pretended ignorance of our
            Pope
Now, when my children question
The tradition of the fish
I tell them
"It is only one day a week for you"
But I made a bargain with
            God:
I'm a vegetarian