Dreams, Page 1 Poem by Stephanie McMillan Kjaerbaek

> I.
> The girl chased after
> Michelle with her two black sneakers in her hand. Elaine had
>never seen her before, but then again, Elaine was
> Michelle's only female friend. The other girls she knew
> were sexual playthings over a ouija board. Michelle licked
> the mustard off the side of a large kosher dog, removed the
> sauerkraut, and tossed it into the garbage. She checked
> again for the grilled onions, but noticed only a few raw
> onions.
>"I ordered a well-done kosher dog with grilled
> onions and mustard only. There are raw onions and sauerkraut
> on this dog, " she snapped as she held up the pieces of
> offensive onion in her hand.
>"The smell is disgusting, " Elaine commented.
> "The hot dog is not well-done but burnt. I imagine the
> cook forgot about the dog on the grill and let it cook too
> long. The edges around the side are black. Why don't you
> take the dog back and ask for a replacement or
> refund? ".
>"I wonder what the cook was doing with his right
> hand while this dog was cooking to a burnt crisp like a bad
> piece of toast. I suspect he was probably masturbating with
> one hand and smoking a cigarette with another. My
> familiarity with Denny's cooks in the bathroom and around
> the back of the restaurant has familiarized me with their
> cooking tendencies. I always know what one of the crew is up
> to in a restaurant if the food arrives burnt, " Michelle
> announced sardonically.
>"Are you taking back the hot dog? " Elaine
> asked her. "You could just ask for dog done the regular
> way, plain, with the fixings on the side. It would be harder
> for them to get the order wrong."
>"No, I will just eat the hot dog and forget the
> rest, " she said. "I toss away what is not suitable
> to me. It is not like I can't afford another hot dog. I
> rarely eat these things."
>"There are probably too many other types of dogs in
> your mouth for you to find room for this one, " I
> suggested. "The boys at the Royal Ann keep you
> busy."