It's Still Life

The Children’s Menu

It’s the nuggets.
Always the nuggets.
No sauce.
He hates sauce.

Can I substitute sauce
for waffles, he asks.
May I, says his mother.
Yes you can, says the waitress.

And he hates all the noise.
It’s always the noise.
Knives and forks and plates
and the chewing chewing.

May you turn off the noise, he asks.
Can you, says his mother.
No, says the waitress, that’s
not on the menu.

103 words. Revised from old poem. Some artwork is created using Midjourney AI, and is identified as such in the ALT text or captioned. Imagery and poems ©Misky 2023.