Image via Wikipedia

Lunch Time

Just down the street

from Adrian’s Skelley Station

the dying diner

opens for lunch.

Regulars sit elbow to elbow

around the scarred stained

Formica top counter

on wobbly stools

that have long stopped

swiveling.

Outside a line stretches

halfway down the block.

It’s a simple menu

Maid Rite burger-

a loose meat sandwich

made of finely ground hamburger

cooked and piled on a bun,

then served with mustard,

pickles or chopped onions.

A bag of chips and a Coke on

the side.

“I’ve been coming here for 30

years,’ says one patron.

“Best darn burgers in

McDonough County.”

The waitress smiles and takes

another order.

What’s tradition and history,

got to do with it, she thinks

When she’s making two dollars

an hour plus tips?

It’s only a burger for crying

out loud.