From Pink Chalk, 2018.
Forty-Two Plus and Minus
waiting to see
if my sushi order was ready
I stood in line
behind two ladies
debating lunch. Too much choice
and now their thinking
a circular equation
Shrimp and eel
peanuts avocado seaweed and rice
wasabi kick-in-the-pants kind of eating
the two of them
helpless to find the exit
and please we just want to sit down and eat.
The man taking the order
seen it before. Polite but firm
removed the menus from their
gesticulating hands
advised two of number twelve and
one of eighteen no wasabi. Math
made it work. The ladies
counted out bills and sat down
smiles. Relief. My order ready
I left the ladies to their sum of forty-two minus wasabi and
carried out
my brown paper bag full of twenty-one plus.
6/29/18
7/3/18
Claudia McGill Writes Poetry, Did You Know That? 
I confess to someone who feels overwhelmed by way too much choice. As someone who does not eat meat, it is also a challenge to scan through a massive menu and find the things that I can eat. Part of why I find it stressful is because I know I am holding up other people if I don’t arrive at a decision quickly.
Craving sushi now with the little dab of wasabi on the side that I mix into my little dish of soy sauce for dipping!
Oh, wasabi, I cannot! But my husband loves it so. He would like to sit down with you for this meal, I know.