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Quesarito In Excelsis Deo

Mary gave birth while in line at Taco Bell. New store, grand
opening. She had her baby on the freshly waxed, uniform,
patterned floor just before noon on an otherwise lazy weekday

with all the Saints and Angels looking down from lofty perches,
holding their collective praises for a little girl; although the
paperwork may eventually show the gender at birth as unresolved.

‘My dad was a doctor,’ said the kid behind the counter. He always
wanted his father to love him. He brought out some boiling water
and clean towels. Two paramedics from the drive through came

into the lobby to assist with baby’s arrival, and to support the mother
on the white plastic changing table of the never-before-used restroom.
One paramedic asked Joseph if he would like to cut the umbilical

Cord. Joseph blushed and said he didn’t know. People rarely asked
Joseph anything. He loosened his tie, closed his eyes and snipped.
A hungry looking lady with four hungry kids went searching through

her purse, past all the medication, gum, unscratched lotto tickets;
under earrings and raspberry-lemon lipstick that never smudged a
secret lovers scarf, finally she pulled out a little vial of frankincense

essential oil along with a business card and passed it to the
embarrassed Joseph. ‘For refills give me a call. Really, honey, call me.
You have a beautiful baby girl.’ ‘Thank you, her name is Gloria.’

Photo by Levi Ventura on Unsplash

ABOUT THE POET

Tim Moder is a poet living in northern Wisconsin. His poems have appeared in River Mouth Review, Zin Daily, South Florida Poetry Journal, and others. His chapbook All True Heavens was published with Alien Buddha Press in June 2022.