A thick, heavy, greasyspoonrestaurant odor

settled through the arcade and

Two fleshy, blue-veined stubble-haired legs

pounced my way.

She nodded and yelled,

“Hi, Ya’ll, there! What’ll it be today?”

While stringy hair caught in her smacking gum.

The straggly strands fell on a white turned yellow collar

of a white turned yellow dress.

A man got up to leave and a napkin

floated to the floor.  She stood and watched it fall.

“Bye, now!” missing teeth courteously cajoled the words

giving them form and substance. “Ya’ll come back real soon, hear?”

making a question out of a declaration.

She looked down at me with raised eyebrows and mouth agape

then bent too close and whispered huskily,

“You’d think the slob would pick up his napkin.”

while stringy hair caught in her smacking gum.