The Octopus

The owner came in
saw the octopus on the counter and went
"This reminds me of my holidays in the Mediterranean."

It fell on deaf ears
with the prep cooks and the line cooks
who had an average of 3 kids
and just as many jobs

Paulo leaned over and went
"Man, I fucking hate rich people."

I laughed
dick deep in meatballs
always meatballs

I got the nickname
The Meatball Master

one I didn't want
which made it stick harder

Anna
she was "Garfield"
in charge of family meal
and constantly meowing

a hot kitchen and three kids
will do that to your brain

Eric
the 49-year-old line cook
was "Mister Trouble"

he claimed he had kids all over the place

he was like Howlin' Wolf
if Howlin' Wolf worked in a chicken-themed restaurant

Occasionally club members would wander through
Human Resources knew to stay out

The hot sweaty beautiful misery was ours

The dance was ours

The octopus was ours

© 2014 Lee Kitzis