Pies&Poems

  waiting for you      It wasn’t supposed to be this way  you weren’t supposed to be around  but you sent me a text your plans have changed    Here’s the thing though I just ordered a pizza  and waiting for it to arrive  is the best I’ve felt since I met you   So, maybe you shouldn’t come  I thought you’d be happy , you said  I am happy , I said, and I’m smiling  watching the delivery guy pull up       Florence McCambridge lives, writes, breathes, and contemplates in Toronto. She spends most of her time reading, baking, and chasing her dog, Finnegan, around the house. He likes to steal socks, that cheeky terrier. Florence has had work published in  Sledgehammer Lit ,  Dead Housekeeping , and  Twisted Endings . Twitter:  @FlorenceMcC  

  Adaptive Delivery Protocols     A thin crust was readied, spread by robot limbs Smearing barbecue sauce, sprinkling cheese on the dough Bits of chicken and pineapple drop down to trim The pizza hits the ovens, flash-cooked in a row   Its order prepared, the drone secures its load Soaring out from its station, high into the sky It darts past hovertraffic, finding the abode Of its latest client, awaiting their pie   The building is vast, shooting up past the clouds Though the drone stays far lower, its target in sight Weaving through the rest of the late-night food crowd It finds the apartment, still lively with light   A faint jingle chimes from the balcony door Accompanied by a soft tap on the glass The homeguard app vibrates the phone on the floor Its AI soon opting to let the drone pass   The drone floats through the doorframe, now in silent mode Finding its human patron, dozed off through the wait ...

  Pizza Delivery Guy by Matthew McGuirk   That’s the thing about being the pizza delivery guy, you always get those smells: the spice off the pepperoni, the decadence of the cheese and that crisp bread smell that really can’t be described any other way. The greenhouse effect is always present and the car is steaming on the way to the pizza’s destination. Sometimes you just get so hungry because Friday nights are so busy and there’s no time to grab anything for the road and wouldn’t that be distracted driving anyways? Who’s to say that you didn’t get lost along the way though, you’re sure that the pizza is much too cold to give to the customer and it’ll need to go back to the shop to get them a fresh one, on the house of course. Maybe you accidentally tripped and the pizza is a little sloppy in the box; I’m sure that would warrant a new one for them as well because really we don’t want unhappy customers. That’s the thing about being the p...