Waiting Tables, 1985
Stacked plates up my arms,
did the math in my head,
served breakfast to drunkards,
and brokers. Ate cake.
Danced nude on that bar,
chugged shots in my station,
smoked pot on the stairs
with lost dancers in circles.
Saw a rat drown in syrup,
fucked hard in cold walk-ins.
Married mustards and ketchups
and steak sauce. Stashed cash.
Cindy Milwe is a writer and teacher who lives in Venice, CA with her husband and three children. For the last 30 years, her work has been published in many journals and magazines, and has been widely anthologized. Her first full-length collection, Salvage, was recently published by Finishing Line Press.