Waitress

By Tresha Faye Haefner

---

The moon was still full
as a bottle of un-spillable milk.
I worked the late shift at an all-night diner.

I had blond hair. A righteous ponytail. 
A pad of paper and a pen that could decipher 
every need in America. 

Cravings for creamy and sweet, 
salty and satisfying. I fed
the truckers and late-night drinkers.

Even the man in the alley
Who came up short by two quarters
And apologized for not leaving a tip.

Once someone asked for extra 
whipped cream on pancakes. 
I made a mountain, 

a whole Himalaya 
with one cherry on top.
He left me a twenty.

What is a job, but knowing 
the secret desires of strangers? 
How we budget 

for our pleasures, ask strangers
for what we need. I could 
be that someone, 

Samaritan. Saint. 
Goddess of a small universe, floating 
towards your table with free coffee.

I balanced this world
like a plate of mercy
against my palm.

---

Tresha Faye Haefner’s poetry appears in many journals, including Blood Lotus, Blue Mesa Review, The Cincinnati Review, Five South, Hunger Mountain, Mid-America Review, Pirene’s Fountain, Poet Lore, Prairie Schooner, Radar, Rattle, TinderBox, and Up the Staircase Quarterly. Her work has garnered the 2011 Robert and Adele Schiff Poetry Prize, and three nominations for the Pushcart. Her first manuscript, When the Moon Had Antlers, is out from Pine Row Press. See thepoetrysalon.com.

---

• 11/7 / Meet the Artist with visiting poet-in-residence Vandana Khanna / The Library at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed on Instagram Live/Facebook Live at @swwimmiami / 6:00 pm EST / Free

• 11/7 / Poetry Reading with visiting poet-in-residence Vandana Khanna + local writer Nicole Callihan / The Library at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed on Instagram Live/Facebook Live at @swwimmiami / 7:00 pm EST / Free

• Sign up for our Workshop Series--SWWIM Lessons: From Prompt to Placement! They take place monthly, starting with “Deep Dive with Mia Leonin – Delve into the depths of memory, magic, and imagination to discover poetic treasure” on 10/15 (register here); continuing with “Navigating Your Manuscript with Alexandra Lytton Regalado – What I learned from reading for (and winning) the National Poetry Series” on 11/12 (register here); and concluding with “Surfing Submittable with Jen Karetnick – Keeping your head above water in the poetry submissions process” on 12/10 (register here). Price: $80/workshop OR $220 for all 3 (bundle and save! register here ). Time: 7:00–9:00 PM (EST). Where: Zoom.

• Note: SWWIM Every Day is now accepting poetry translations for publication consideration. Please see swwim.org/submit for the full guidelines.

• Are you a SWWIMmer with literary news to share (publication/feature/award/book/book review)? We’d love to shout out your accomplishments in our Weekly Spotlight! Please email swwimmiami@gmail.com with a link to your news. (No DMs on any social media platforms, please.)

• Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X, and Bluesky for more updates—and visit our website to see past, present, and future readings & events.

---

**We do our best to preserve the integrity of each poem; however, due to programming limitations, some poems may read differently on a mobile phone and in certain browsers. For best viewing, use Chrome on a desktop/laptop.