At a Waffle House, Alice Simply Wanted Grits
in a bowl—hot! Dogs hissed
outside; cats barked about
who prayed everything upside down
to become normal again.
Outside—cats barked about
like drunken cows
to become normal
Again
it rained milk
like drunken cows—
now inflated red & white balloons.
It rained;
milk
drenched the queen of hearts,
now inflated red & white. Balloons
burst like rain clouds—
drenched the queen of hearts
with relish (smothered her). Also she
burst.
Like rain clouds
in a bowl, hotdogs hissed
with relish—smothered her also,
she
who had prayed everything upside down.
John C. Mannone
John C. Mannone, three-time Pushcart nominee, has work in Inscape Literary Journal, Artemis, Town Creek Poetry and others. He has two literary collections, including Disabled Monsters (The Linnet’s Wings Press, December 2015). He edits poetry for Silver Blade and Abyss & Apex and teaches college physics in Tennessee. Visit http://jcmannone.wordpress.com