Chickenboxwitsaltpepperhotsauce, a word

Ashley Elizabeth

followed by a please

and ketchup on the fries

And I get my family back in the moment

I wade through Lexington Market

looking at everything

but only buying from Park’s

an old faithful, a tradition

I hope to keep if I have children

but it is only a moment

I’ve moved out

Mom has moved on

Dad is alone

Grandmother doesn’t need Faidley’s fish anymore

because she’s no longer on the way home

& the Market is being rebuilt and gentrified

but I get to bite into crisp skin,

tear things apart with bare hands,

and moan.

Indulge in the salty sticky-sweet,

devour something, and mean it.

Ashley Elizabeth is a writing consultant, teacher, and poet. Her works have appeared in SWWIM, Rigorous, and Kahini Quarterly, among others. Her chapbook, you were supposed to be a friend, is available from Nightingale & Sparrow. Ashley lives in Baltimore, MD with her partner and their cat.