
The Automat

 Lunch, George Tooker, 1964, Columbus Museum of Art
 
 
The Automat could 
not sandwich any more balogna-eaters
or squeeze any more orange juice
or layer any more layer cake
some were stuck 
 on their coffee cups
 
a thick broth of  atmosphere
drifted ever endlessly 
 impatient as
the missing waiter
who would serve crackers
with
mulligatawny
or
beef barley
soup d'jour 
all day
who gave these
denizens dessert 
 
the unknown lunch crowd
hushed munching
sliced bread
found a modicum 
of homespun 
comfort food
in the jackpot slats
 
 heavy breathing
fogged the pate froi gras
narrowing the back-of-the-box
to stagnant foggy clamminess
boule-base atmosphere 
tossed salad
juliened and sliced the afternoon light
cut like butter 
fingers honed in on 
the active part of eating
 
dispersed light 
split slant-like shafts
condensed sauce
creamy dreamy
milkshake silky
 
muted green pea-sized 
pixelized points of edibleness 
made by Tooker
own paint-by-number 
restaurantaur par none
a close interconnected system 
consistent dull routine
potato mash-to-mush
over-cooked by under-cooks
sounds of clanking cutlery
varied values of red greens
as hush puppy sunshine 
 on top hierarchial angels
downy sleepy heads 
partially aware of others
a mini-
lunch break in organized unison
for this Automaton
in the Art Museum by
The Factory
all these auto-sonomic-automatons
 Vachon half-moon
identical faces
bow in supplication
by the feeding bowl
to the cafeteria gods
often
called
Mundane's 
On 34th Street
 
~~Chiccoreal~~
 
 
Thank-you Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales for this amazing piece of art by famous artist Tooker (why does this picture look so familiar?)