Across the Table

Amidst the clamour of

busy laptops, 

sipping lips

clattering cups,

I barely hear

the words:

“My favorite movie is

Cinderella.”

Both eyes roll in my head

then out onto the floor.

From across the table,

this pop culture princess

wages war

with my patience

on a front made up of

Caesar

salad trenches and

battlements of roast

beef on rye.

Retreat.

Her tic-tac grin

and gumball eyes

have turned this café

cliché.

I have only one thought:

Disney is the new Bible

and

I am

the Anti-Christ.

- Published in Touchstones in the Fall of 2002