fresh fish daily, let us pray

it's a dive,

but it's what you expected when you pulled

into the gravel

lot nestled between an oriental rug store

and an oversized

green dumpster with

the lid off.

a crab place,

a fish emporium,

Seafood,

the sign

blinks, several letters gone dark.

flounder,

sea bass,

clams and oysters.

crabs, all you can eat

brought out on trays, carried

by young maidens

from southern Maryland.

Pimlico, Salisbury,

Cambridge.

large sheets of rough

construction

paper is laid out on the wooden

tables,

chairs from

a bingo joint no longer

in existence,

are pulled up tight to ketchup

bottles,

vinegar and bent

cutlery. pliers and mallets.

it's a dive place,

but it's what you expected

when you walked

in and felt the warm

breeze of a fan

pushing the summer air

filled with fish,

forward

to a shut door.

fresh fish daily the chalkboard

says,

let us pray.