Ode to Meat Bun

Simple egg glaze,
shiny on top,
dome-backed
like a fat turtle
without its shell

concealing swine innards
sometimes sausage, sometimes ham
always pig

cha sui baos
what makes the world go round
barbequed and pulled gently
sweet manna of pork

Grab one piping hot
near its center
and like Moses
lovingly part its Red Sea
to the Promised Land

which entreats glands
and salivates drool

steam rising
mouth watering

a compact meal
not complicated
of vegetable

and such trivialities

bread as it should be
surrounding meat

If the Earl of Sandwich
were Chinese
civilization would ask for it
by this name
instead.