Salad Days

by Michael Dylan Welch, Billie Dee, Naia, Oleg Kagan, Ash Baldon, and Deborah P Kolodji

Written 21 February 2010, at the La Grande Orange Café (an historic train depot) in Pasadena, California. First published in Prune Juice #24, Spring 2018. page 104.

fancy restaurant—

the house salad served

on a single lettuce leaf Michael

hearts of romaine

baby’s first kick Billie

panzanella for two

the waiter’s serenade

slightly off-key Naia

fruit salad finished

I drink its juice Oleg

Balsamic, no oil

tart and sweet

the way I like it Ash

he picks through spinach

for the candied walnuts Deborah