Eastern Shore Produce Stand

Late in the afternoon
It's a roadside stand
We find
along route 50, heading west from
the eastern shore,
in Talbot County
beyond the fields of corn
That grow
As far as you can see.
fresh produce, the sign reads.
Hand painted.
cukes and corn,
lopes,
melons,
asparagus and more.
crabs too, fresh from the bay.
we pull into
the side road and slowly
roll up onto the gravel
parking lot.
they sit in the shade,
the man and his wife,
they look almost alike,
close in age. Squinting,
round and sunburned, him
with a ball cap,
her with a wide brim
hat made of straw,
providing an island
of shade.
they look us over and get up.
hands on hips,
no smile on their faces,
but not unwelcoming, it's been
a long hot day.
we buy a melon, some peaches.
tomatoes, that the woman
says are the best this side
of Annapolis.
got live crabs out back, she says,
pointing around
the tin roof shack.
caught this morning.
no thanks, we say.
he packs us our fruit into
paper bags and tips his hat
when we tell him to keep
the change. they go back to their
lawn chairs as we drive
away. he lights a cigarette,
she turns back to her magazine.
we'll remember them, but I
doubt they'll remember us,
as they close up,
and shut down, the sun setting
finally
at the end of another summers
day.