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The cake sat on the dirty
breakroom countertop
still in the box from a local bakery
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR
in bold rainbow lettering
printed across the top slices
(I don’t work with a Taylor?)
A frosting covered knife and a post-it note
lay amongst the multi-colored crumbs
Never Picked Up
an orange discount sticker on the corner of the lid
Taylor must’ve died
a few days before their birthday
what other excuse could there possible be
to order a cake and never pick it up?
Ok – maybe Mom found
a cheaper cake at Walmart
maybe – Taylor is a little shit
and their party was canceled
as I lick the creamy frosting
off my fingertips – I think of poor Taylor
they really missed out moist fluffy
this cake is damn good
Jason Melvin has worked for the same company his entire adult life. Hired at twenty and now closing in on fifty, he is in charge of the facility he works at, one of over 100 locations across North America for his company. Twenty years on the steel processing plant floor and twenty more answering emails. He has work published in various journals including Olney, The Beatnik Cowboy and Roi Faineant. He published a chapbook, Wrong Things, with Bullshit Lit in 2023.