CHRIS CALLARD

JACK IN THE BOX

I sit at Jack in the Box a few hours each day
and order something from the value menu,
under four dollars, the Junior Jack, the junior
chicken sandwich, the strange tacos.
Add a water cup and I’m all set.
It’s an escape from my little place, one room,
small kitchen, bathroom.
Plus, get this, I take plenty of packets of ketchup and hot sauce,
and napkins too, which saves me a lot at the dollar store.
They never seem to mind that I’m there for a while on the cheap.
They’re usually pretty busy with the drive-thru window.
Very accommodating and cool, and eases my slight guilt.
So I sit and eat then write my poems on a legal pad and look
at a lotta things on my phone.
My poems are inspired by my life and
I think most of them are pretty damn good.
My neighbor likes them, too,
and calls me Robert the Poet, which I dig.
Even got one published on a funky website.
It was about a squirrel that’s
always climbing a tree outside my apartment.
In the meantime, back to Jack’s …
I love the small things in life, like the crunch of those tacos,
watching other people inside who also avoid the drive-thru.
Writing my poems, waiting for text replies.
I think it’s all good, like the Junior Jack,
especially with cheese.

Chris Callard lives in Long Beach, CA. His poems have appeared in Beach Chair Press, Beatnik Cowboy, Spillwords, Chewers by Masticadores, Doublespeak, Oddball Magazine, The Writing Disorder, Ariel Chart, and One Sentence Poems. His short fiction in The Gorko Gazette, 10 by 10 Flash Fiction Stories, Maudlin House, Friday Flash Fiction, Bright Flash Literary Review, Gemini Magazine, and Flash Fiction Magazine. His work has been nominated for Best of the Net and Best Small Fictions. He can be found here: https://callb3.wixsite.com/collectedworkschrisc