retro restaurant

by Naomi Berhane

I had a dream I was stuck
in one of those retro restaurants
2020 music blaring from a jukebox

flying cars zip by the glitchy windowpane
binary numbers encoding matrix rain

Robo-Flo serves me
a galactic plate
3D-printed waffles
better than the real thing
just with a microchip aftertaste

I feel a wet zap on my calf
a hologram Max leaps onto my lap
it trills a fun electronic bark
blue rays for eyes blink and spark

I think about having a strawberry shake
it appears from thin air
with a flash and a quake

it feels really lonely
but I have what I want
simulation overload

& I can’t stop