Lost Shaker of Salt by Leah Mueller

When “Margaritaville” 

comes on the radio,

I think of

American tourists

in towns like Ixtapa 

and Mazatlán,

whooping it up at 

Senor Frog’s, with

buckets of iced Coronas

and peel-your-own shrimp.

Clusters of Parrotheads 

in gaudy shirts, adorned

with tequila bottles 

and palm trees,

swaying in their 

rented hammocks,

signaling their waiter 

for a double shot, 

discussing stock portfolios 

in jocular tones.

Six shots later,

they run towards the water, 

pale legs flashing 

in the winter sun. 

Everyone has lost a lover.

Everyone wants to 

blame someone else,

and nobody knows 

where they put that 

goddamn saltshaker.

Perhaps they

left it at home,

with the rest 

of their baggage.

Leah Mueller's work appears in Rattle, NonBinary Review, Brilliant Flash Fiction, Citron Review, The Spectacle, New Flash Fiction Review, Atticus Review, Your Impossible Voice, etc. She is a 2022 nominee for both Pushcart and Best of the Net. Leah's flash piece, "Land of Eternal Thirst" appears in the 2022 edition of Best Small Fictions. Her two newest books are "The Failure of Photography" (Garden Party Press, 2023) and "Widow's Fire" (Alien Buddha Press, 2023). Website: http://www.leahmueller.org.