Before Pulaski, which is Polish,
there is Zabina Halal Meats, Arabic
and King Pho, Vietnamese
one cannot sell pork
or other carnivorous things
the other is renown for its Banh Xeo
stuffed full of steaming pig
I am a fly on this wall
papered street
of fusion
confusion
ethnic-is-city
my nose pressed to the glass
window
of a blue submarine
halting, idling,
jerking, honking
its way
through a hybrid byway
called Devon
in a strip mall soup pot
named Forest Glen
a man
who could be a Jose’
or Miguel
or Jesús
sells roses on the corner at Kinzie
a swath of crimson petals
against the slab grey sky
there is the Hookah Joint
Waxy Tan
Chopal Kabob and Steak
saris displayed next to dog food
next to bright pink flips flops
wrapped in rubber bands
a set
of floured hands
braiding challah
It is such a blur
of Ameri-scrambled-icana
and it all goes by in a Flash
Cab
to Terminal B
stuffed duffle bag
at my feet.