you. 
standing in muggy july air. 
aluminum foil wrapped around the ocean’s prize. 
perhaps it is fried in cornmeal.
teetering on slices of white bread. 
blood red with heat and pepper sauce. 
puckered with lemon kisses.

you. 
pick with cautious fingers. 
catching tiny bones. 
flipping them downward 
into an open hydrant’s stream. 
the bones swirl. end over end. 
bite after bite. 
the up and down motion of filling your face. 
belly full. 
flesh ripped from bone 
settling heavily into your stomach. 
empty questions that have awaited answers 
before you could form them. 

wonder. 
what bodies sank to sandy bottom. 
breaking down from warm red insides/ashen brown skin. 
nourishing the ocean 
that nourished the fish 
sitting stone heavy inside you. 
perhaps the bitterness that coats your tongue 
is the flavor of memories reconnecting.
the crumpling foil: 
the splashes of bodies being tossed overboard. 
sinking slowly. 

you. 
open your hand. 
a ball of crushed reflections 
freed onto a patch of green grass. 
you turn: disappearing into the crowd.