Magpie #94 The Automat

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~~

Welcome to the Automat! Please join the luncheon crew here: http://magpietales.blogspot.com/

Thank-you Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales for this amazing piece of art by famous artist Tooker (why does this picture look so familiar?)