a dog with a cigar

we used

to go to the big flea

market

in the enormous Quonset hut

in Chantilly.

two bucks

to get in, to peruse the rows

and rows

of other people's

gold,

or junk, depending on

who you

talk to.

dolls from the 19th century,

posters

and books

full of dust

and mold, shoes from

the civil war,

a musket, a jacket with

a bullet hole

in the back,

and over there, by the newspapers

wrapped in

plastic,

is a porcelain statue

of a dog smoking

a cigar

wearing

a ship captain's hat.