Superior
Fish
You didn’t know from mackerel, haddock
Pollock or hake, monkfish, salmon, mahi
Or skate wandering the red tile floor knuckled
By the gleam glancing off white tile walls
Antiseptic chill mingled with briny
Breath from calved sea ice fingering the downy
Curve of your cheek, nose flattened against
The cool green cube of the lobster tank
Old Evinrude parts rusting motionless
On the bottom, ragged spark plug wires
Snipped to bristles, thrillingly flimsy
Blue bands branding smoldering clawed beasts.
Sliding you into the saddle of the torqueing
Bottlenose dolphin I deposited
A quarter and prayed to St. Nicholas it was enough
To buy safe harbor over the far horizon.
