No More Cake Here

“It was a party after all” (Line 9), says the speaker of “No More Cake Here.” Had the reader not been informed on the first line that the speaker’s brother was dead, it might be a birthday party, complete with “free rides on the [fire]truck” (Line 7), balloons, clowns, a magician, live music, and a piñata. Of course, there is cake, the ultimate celebration food. The speaker even provides presents by giftwrapping the technology their brother dismantled and rebuilt while under the influence of meth.

The party marks a milestone and significant development. In this case, it celebrates the end of suffering, for both the brother and his family members. The brother is remembered as his best self, as a lover of chocolate cake. Many people attend. The only entities turned away are the “[t]wo mutants” (Line 45) who come looking for the brother’s cookware, and the hungry “stray dogs” (Line 30), none of whom are in keeping with the festive premise. Instead, they are reminders of the persistent hardships of life, and the ways in which people—even family—can become so “mutant” as to appear only “almost human” (Line 46).