The Restaurant
“The menu’s got a faux-proletarian vibe,”
my friend Luke described the restaurant ahead.
So often ironic, his jokes not always obvious,
I wasn’t sure what he was getting at,
and I googled the term on my cellphone.
“Common choices include salmon,
tuna, sardines and trout,”
the text read. “Chicken and turkey,
which are lean sources of protein
and essential nutrients.
Vegetables and fruits are crucial
for vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants.”
The hell? I thought.
What did this have to do with the proletariat?
Then I noticed that Google had outsmarted me.
What I really wanted to know, it had decided,
was the elements of a pollotarian diet.
Looking puzzled, I asked Luke
if he wanted to have lunch there or not.
“I’m not really into pot pies and hot dogs,”
he shrugged, “at least not today.”
So we went on to a Mexican joint
where we had fish tacos and cerveza.
Charles Rammelkamp is Prose Editor for BrickHouse Books in Baltimore. His poetry collection, The Tao According to Calvin Coolidge, was published in 2025 by Kelsay Books. A collection of short fiction, Casual Mysteries and Aperçus, has been accepted by BlazeVOX Books.
