Ode to bad food with girlfriends in DUMBO

First Doris

For Wicked Hot Chocolate at Jacques Torres

Whom she sometimes calls "Jacques Cousteau"

We swirl our cups like scotch

Not so much diving as slowly sinking in

Then Kathleen at Almondine

Where the quiche is so rich we taste the cream

She opens her new red leather bag and pulls out

a shopping tote, three glossy pouches, a polar bear whose head lights up and stories about where she found each thing

Voices low, gestures muted

Still we make a scene.