Kristen de Kline #184 Fish 'n' chips (For Rob. S & The Migrants)

I've bought
too many
chips, it's
easy to do,
the hoki
is fine
but they
always go
overboard
with the fries

it's been a long time
since I've heard the stories
... we ran for our lives
thought the end of the world was upon us
good men died, bad ones survived
the clothes we stood up in ...

was fumbling with newsprint
I didn't say a word
crunching
the chips up
into a
disposable
fist-sized
portion

she says:
my father died of starvation

no indents
no pauses
no extra spaces
between words

temporarily, my son stops
his SnapChat session
I unfurl more waxed
paper, live-streaming into sepia
news: Jacinda Adern talking
about her first weeks in office
splattered with grease

it doesn't matter
that we've enlarged
the only photo
breathed colour
back into him
mounted the shot
in a sturdy frame

it all comes down
to the fish'n'chips

what we can't    do
migrants   walking off boats
at the old domestic terminal
what we can't    say
clouds       gathering
what we won't know
more birds      falling
out of the skies, searching
for stray chips
on sandy beaches

I've bought too many chips
that's    not    it