a midnight snack, yo

it's midnight

but i'm thinking about a steak
sub
sandwich,

onions, cheese, grease.
all of it fried

on the big iron griddle
over

in southern Maryland
by some large women
with names like

Maybelle and Sassy.

jiffy's was the name of the place.
a big yellow sign hung on the roof
with half the letters
blacked out.

the joint was the size of a phone
booth,

but they knew how to fry
up some thin
cut steaks

and make a foot long
sub out of it.

mayo, tomatoes, lettuce.
they'd wrap it in paper sealing

up those precious greasy
juices

then wrap it again in foil.
you stood outside in the cold
with your hands in
your pockets, then slid your money
under the caged window.

the whole car

would smell of that sandwich
for days on end.

jiffy's. maybe i'll do a drive
by. it's only midnight.


I haven't been there in forty years,
but i'm sure they're open.