Photography © Ira Joel Haber

 

The Hot Dog

The toasted bun pulls apart gently, a soft doughy pillow.
In the center, a long, thin meat filled balloon.
The grill marks are jail bars to keep the flavor in.
The melted cheese sauce coats smoothly like an edible paint.
Ketchup and mustard tsunami every crevice in red and yellow waves.
The charcoal infuses the meat with smoke.
A big bite…
My tastebuds identify this unmistakable flavor… a hot dog!
I joyfully eat it with my hands.

 

The Sandwich

A sandwich must have two slices of bread, symmetric, rigid bookends to hold
          the flavor in.
A sandwich is filled, like a layer cake, flat and spread out.
A sandwich must hold together, a toasted construction designed to withstand
          each bite.
A sandwich must not cheese sauce, only melted cheese is allowed.
A sandwich does not taste better with ketchup and mustard, especially not
          peanut butter and jelly.
A sandwich does not require a grill, simplicity of preparation is its hallmark.
A big bite…
A sandwich must have identifiable meat; I know without chewing it is from a
          pig or a turkey.
I joyfully eat it with my hands.

 

Is A Hot Dog A Sandwich?

The toasted bun pulls apart gently, a soft doughy pillow.
A sandwich must have two slices of bread, symmetric, rigid bookends to hold
          the flavor in.

In the center, a long, thin meat filled balloon.
A sandwich is filled, like a layer cake, flat and spread out.

The grill marks are jail bars to keep the flavor in.
A sandwich must hold together, a toasted construction designed to withstand
          each bite.

The melted cheese sauce coats smoothly like an edible paint.
A sandwich must not cheese sauce, only melted cheese is allowed

Ketchup and mustard tsunami every crevice in red and yellow waves.
A sandwich does not taste better with ketchup and mustard, especially not
          peanut butter and jelly.

The charcoal infuses the meat with smoke.
A sandwich does not require a grill, simplicity of preparation is its hallmark.

A big bite…

My tastebuds identify this unmistakable flavor… a hot dog!
A sandwich must have identifiable meat; I know without chewing it is from a
          pig or a turkey.

I joyfully eat it with my hands.

 

I am a poet and entrepreneur from Northern Virginia who writes quirky poetry. My recent work has been published in What Rough Beast, Unique Poetry, and The Daily Drunk.

Ira Joel Haber was born and lives in Brooklyn. He is a sculptor, painter, writer, book dealer, photographer and teacher. His work has been seen in numerous group shows both in the USA and Europe and he has had 9 one man shows including several retrospectives of his sculpture. His work is in the collections of The Whitney Museum Of American Art, New York University, The Guggenheim Museum, The Hirshhorn Museum,The Albright-Knox Art Gallery & The Allen Memorial Art Museum. Since 2006 His paintings, drawings, photographs and collages have been published in over 230 on line and print magazines. He has received three National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, two Creative Artists Public Service Grant (CAPS), two Pollock-Krasner grants, two Adolph Gottlieb Foundation grants and, in 2010, he received a grant from Artists’ Fellowship Inc. in 2017 & 2018 he received the Brooklyn Arts Council SU-CASA artist-in-residence grant.