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.