We’re having Shake ‘n Bake

for dinner but I wanted

Old El Paso – I salivate

thinking about the chopped meat 

simmering in the pan and stuffing it

into the hard shell taco

which cracks and then shatters

into ten thousand tiny 

glasslike shards the minute

I bite into it. Slicing the roof 

of my mouth. I love it. 

The soft shavings off a block 

of Cabot cheddar cheese; 

an unripe tomato and 

iceberg lettuce – pale and crisp.

For dessert there’s My-T-Fine 

I want the tapioca; those squishy little balls

What are they? I don’t know, I don’t 

care. My brother wants chocolate. 

The butterscotch no one wants

it remains in the back of the pantry

with the Jell-O. 



Claudia Lundahl is a writer from New York. She is a graduate of the City University of New York at Hunter College where she studied Language and Literature. Her work has been published in Vol. 1 Brooklyn, So to Speak Journal, The Daily Drunk and other marvelous places. She lives in the United Kingdom with her partner and two rescued hounds. Find her on Twitter @claudrosewrites.