One light short of a lit grill
I went to the diner intending
on ham and cheese but the grill
broke and my cheese
was not grilled brown
and wasn’t even hot to the
touch as the line grew and grew until
the poor waitress started chewing
things that weren’t her nails
and ripped up tickets like there was no
tomorrow and perhaps for her there was
none since the outside parade had signs
with her name plastered like ketchup
which I knew because she said OH like it was
a movie and her name was in the credits
but if that was really true she’d have
popcorn and hot fake butter
but her grill didn’t even work
enough to melt tickets and
I felt sorry for her and the guy
in the back who was
frying fries again and again
trying for that point where
they fight back
but not too much.
–
Ruth Lehrer is a writer and sign language interpreter living in western Massachusetts. She has written much food-related poetry and fiction which is scattered across the web and print world. Her novel, BEING FISHKILL, will be published by Candlewick Press in 2016. She can be found on twitter at @duckduckF
Incessant Pipe 