Bread n'butter pickles by Shann Palmer

make or break a sandwich
she'd say you got to have
beef bologna and American cheese
summer tomatoes and salad greens
jabbing with the knife for emphasis
two slices of meat

she always cried
if it was right before her period
telling anyone who'd listen
how she never had two slices
on a sandwich until she was grown

after a wine cooler or two
it's be the tuna fish tale
making lunch for seven people
out of one six ounce can
and half a jar of pickle relish

he wanted to say
just shut up about it
you have what you need now
but he'd grunt and nod
no use begging trouble

she could always suck him up
had a way of sticking her fork in
twirling him like spaghetti
before he could untangle
she'd have him in her mouth

comfortable there, familiar
warmth between two people
who might've done better.

BIO: Shann Palmer lives in Richmond, Virginia and hosts poetry open performances and runs workshops. She has been published in Eclectica, Gin Bender, Moondance (2002), Wicked Alice, and other webzines and hard cover anthologies. EMAIL: xxx@xxx