Challenging Poetry

a teenage fountain lady

she stands there
in a green hairnet
and a blank expression
snapping blueberry bubblegum
and rolling her eyes
because while we stand waiting
her backlog of texts is growing
and seventy-two people have updated
their facebook status

can I take your order?

she raises a finger before we can answer
penciled eyebrows arching up
and we swerve to the left
trying to catch her eye
but her boyfriend just
tweeted a suspicious message about
her best frenemy’s butt
which apparently is everything hers isn’t
and she has to see how deep
soon-to-be-ex
will dig his grave

we’re all out

she snaps
upset that this line of seventeen
customers would dare presume their
extra double frothy hot chocolate with a dash of peppermint
deserves more of her attention than
her iphone
which is vibrating like a jackhammer
with her life crashing
into random data
while all her friends can see
and she’s stuck

thank you, have a nice day

she snarls as her life quiets and dies
too much for the battery to take
and her charger is in the back
and we’re on our iphones
looking up her manager