“What Dora’s Daughter Did” by Charles Rammelkamp

“I mean, I know her from the neighborhood,”

the woman in the manager’s kiosk at the supermarket

said to the lady on the other side of the counter.

“But I don’t know know her.”

 

I was loitering by the freezer

with the weekly frozen food deals.

Stouffer’s Frozen French Bread Pizza,

Healthy Choice Grilled Chicken Marsala,

a variety of Hot Pockets.

 

“What else was she gonna do, though?

Wait tables at Golden West Café?

Her mother says she’s making good money.”

 

“Dora? I don’t think I’d take guidance

from someone like Dora.

What’s she on? Her fourth husband?”

 

“The second one died,”

the customer’s mild defense

while conceding the point.

“Still, she’s making a lot of money.”

 

“Well, she has the equipment for it.

What’s her bra size? Double G?

I guess it beats having the old guys

pawing her when they give her a tip.”

 

The customer paid for her stamps,

rolled her cart down the aisle

with the bandaids, aspirin and vitamins,

and I was left with fantasies

what Dora’s daughter did

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Charles Rammelkamp is Prose Editor for BrickHouse Books in Baltimore, where he lives and Reviews Editor for Adirondack Review. His most recent books include American Zeitgeist (Apprentice House) and a chapbook, Jack Tar’s Lady Parts (Main Street Rag Press). Another poetry chapbook, Me and Sal Paradise, is forthcoming from FutureCycle Press.

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Image courtesy of Pixabay. Altered by Cartoonize.