a literary playground

By: Hunter Hodkinson

About The Piece:

This poem is one of the few ways the author is able to get justice for themself as a service worker. 

/ˈdēˌkafˌiNG/ noun; purposefully giving someone decaf

Barbara’s order is a no foam half oat half skim cortado extra hot.
I know it by heart.

Her makeup looks like a decades old
vase that always murders the flowers,
the epitome of Park Ave.

She is one of many boss battles in this
venture capitalist backed coffee shop
staffed entirely by underpaid queer ppl.

A hundred fed up Service Workers
pave her path on any given day.

I seek justice for the Sales Associate,
the Bag Boy & the Waitress.

She stands there watching us pour
the steamed milk over the espresso
like Oppenheimer at Los Alamos
waiting for the inevitable foam
to explode across the crema.

Now I am become death the destroyer of her morning.

Spit, sabotaged
shopping bags,
& snagged cashmere
are way too obvious
forms of revenge.

In her mind I am not worthy of a tip.
In my mind she is not worthy of caffeine.

We get such little justice in this world.
Take it when you can.

About The Artist:

Hunter Hodkinson (they/them) is a non-binary, Ohio born poet and editor, always building community in Brooklyn, NY. They have worked with Brooklyn Poets & The Adroit Journal & are the founder of Dead End Zine, a quarterly publication showcasing art, poetry, & interviews from New York & beyond. Their work appears or is forthcoming in, Diode, december, Anti-Heroin Chic, Dream Boy Book Club, Poetry is a Team Sport, and elsewhere. You can find them on Instagram @hunterhodkinson and @dead.end.zine.