Short-Order Cook
When the factory closes you
find work as a tune-up man
at the garage, but the new cars
have fuel injection, who cares
what you hear under the hood?
The unemployment office tells
you to switch to service jobs so
here you are a short-order cook
flipping burgers, topped off with
cheddar at the last moment, maybe
blot the grease, add the sliced
fixings—tomato, onion, pickles—
on a lightly toasted bun, and
plate the damn thing, drop one
more patty on the grill, toss cut
spuds in the fryer, then shout out
day after long day the name
of the same damn order.
William Heath has published five poetry books: The Walking Man, Steel Valley Elegy, Going Places, Alms for Oblivion, Prime Time; three chapbooks: Night Moves in Ohio, Leaving Seville, and Inventing the Americas; three novels: The Children Bob Moses Led (winner of the Hackney Award), Devil Dancer, and Blacksnake's Path; a work of history, William Wells and the Struggle for the Old Northwest (winner of two Spur Awards and the Oliver Hazard Perry Award); and a collection of interviews, Conversations with Robert Stone. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Hiram College. He lives in Annapolis. www.williamheathbooks.com