Two Poems by Timothy Gager

reply to the grumpy cashier at the fast food restaurant

Hello Sunshine!

just make my damn sandwich

'cause at minimum wage

that's what you're here for

 

Just a reminder:

no one died on a cross

making that bun

the body of Christ

and the fact that I'm 40

doesn't automatically mean

I'm checking out your body, Christ

I don't want anything else,

only what I asked for

 

I think I've done this before

I've set my eyes on your sour puss,

smiled and said thank-you,

salt-pepper-ketchup, please

go the fuck home

and continue doing nothing.

 

Exclamation for a Separation

which happened long Ago

Hey you. I've never spoken badly

about you but I need to start.

I just wanted to say how things are

for me regarding you. You

with no sense of forgiveness…believe

me when I say I still remember the

time I had to wrestle an apology out

of myself I never wanted to give.

Boy was that a mistake, I thought

you just wanted to smell the blood

of my weakness so you could say,

Ha, I'm a shark! Now, I can no longer

speak or even look at you. It angers me

like a match sparking a gasoline river.

I want you to die but not before I want

you to know that my feelings will remain

and that is a good thing. It is that rage

which never again wishes to break into your

heart; the way yours did to mine,

to hurt it, which motivates me to never be weak or

give in to a cold hearted unforgiving fuck

like yourself who will never have the

privilege of ever knowing me again.

You will still use others for your personal

gain but it will never be me. Here's some

advice: I still see that you are up to your

old tricks so I hope you've learned after

your career falls flat on your blank

transparent face. that I think it would

work out nicely for everyone. Chalk it up to

lessons learned. It's taken years of restraint

to not say I want to punch you in the face

then stab you. Too harsh? I'm not sorry!

See that! I've learned. I've just give you

fodder to talk about me the way you

always did, at least today, feel what's real.

 

Timothy Gager is the author of eight books of short fiction and poetry. He has hosted the successful Dire Literary Series in Cambridge, Massachusetts every month for the past eleven years and is the co-founder of Somerville News Writers Festival.His work has appeared on NPR and in  over 250 online and print journals since 2007. He has  been nominated for the Pushcart Prize nine times.