Chef's Kiss

My mortality is on the menu, though I’m only a sous-chef from Kenosha. When I was hired at this bistro, I never imagined the special of the day would be my life. Will the diners send back my fear of dying alone and say, "This trepidation is overcooked and lacks creativity. I want a concern with more kick." The Crème Brûlée on the other hand was to die for. While heating up my coffee in the microwave, I saw the most beautiful of sunrises inside of said microwave. When I told the pastry chef about it, he opened up the microwave, saw nothing, and said, "It's a sugar high from the three Crème Brûlées you've ate this past hour alone." The pastry chef was probably correct. I wonder what I was high on when I stirred my coffee, and my sugar cubes morphed into talking translucent minnows? Our Headwaiter told me that our most loyal customer just came in with a coupon that read, "If you buy the daily special consisting of the sous-chef from Kenosha's mortality, we'll throw in a front row seat to his funeral."  

Throwing Salt Over Both Shoulders

That potato soup was so heavily impregnated with salt, it could have given birth to Lot’s wife. I crossed my arms in protest, but then I thought better of it and crossed myself before eating my meal in penitent silence. On another continent across the pond, a homeless cross-eyed young man crossed the street on his way to take vengeance on his enemy. He had no place to live ‘cause he was double-crossed by his former business associate, who was aptly surnamed Du Cros. Du Cros loved to over salt his food. Du Cros’s wife was never a biblical cliché, but her sodium levels were higher than Jericho’s walls. But this really isn’t about diet, or revenge, or well-known Bible references. This is about a man whose taste buds are so sensitive, each bite he takes reminds him of the lives he’s lived, the women he’s (un)loved, and the distance from heathen to Heaven.

Daniel Romo is the author of Apologies in Reverse (FutureCycle Press 2019), When Kerosene’s Involved (Mojave River Press 2014), and Romancing Gravity (Silver Birch Press 2013). His poetry and photography can be found in The Los Angeles Review, PANK, Gargoyle, Yemassee, and elsewhere. He has an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte, and he lives and teaches in Long Beach, CA. More at danielromo.wordpress.com.

Steve Castro's debut poetry collection, Blue Whale Phenomena, was published by Otis Books, 2019 (Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA). Poetry forthcoming in SLICE Magazine; PALABRITAS: a Latinx literary publication (Harvard College); Hotel Amerika (w/ Daniel Romo) & Speculative Fiction for Dreamers: A Latinx Anthology (The Ohio State University Press). Maura Stanton wrote, 'Steve Castro is a contemporary surrealist in the spirit of James Tate and Russell Edson and Charles Simic.' Birthplace: Costa Rica.