Would you like a salad with that?

Lunch time.
Waiting in line at the Sandwich shop
I stare at the menu
trying to make up my mind.

On my left, a wall-mounted flat screen TV
shows some woman on the Food Network
gettin' ready to do somethin' kinky
with ricotta cheese. Yum.

On my right, another flat screen--
CNN has breaking news from Pakistan.
The Taliban have released a video
showing the execution of
16 Pakistani policemen.

People are eating
No one is watching
A man says something funny
to his girl friend and then
laughs loudly at his joke.
A woman gets a soda instead
of an ice tea.
A nurse listens to his cell phone
I order ham and cheese.

And pause to watch
as 16 men, lined against a mud brick wall,
are executed by a firing squad of the faithful.
Kalashnikovs rise and fall from the recoil
the men collapse, some writhing in silent agony
Then a Mujahideen with a Tokarev pistol
makes sure all the men are dead.

The girl at the cash register waits
patiently.
"Would you like a salad with that?"
she asks.

Capitano Tedeschi

30

Would you like a salad with that? copyright July 18, 2011 by Jamie Jacks