glass bowls by the stove
line the counter, a circle
of stars as light catches them,
each filled, waiting — the green
and white shallots, garlic’s
pungent slivers, fresh chives,
thyme from the garden,
tomatoes weeping seeds
we move in the unison
of well-practiced orbits — if our
shoes were paint brushes
would we have a map
of our cooking, the recipe’s
steps in color, the floor a
canvass of hues brushed
next to or over another
even as we know
the outcome — well-sauced
mussels in deep bowls, crusty
bread to mop last morsels —
as familiar and new
as morning
Image: “Mussels, eaten” by Quinn Dombrowski, licensed under CC 2.0.
Connemara Wadsworth's chapbook, The Possibility of Scorpions, about the years her family lived in Iraq in the early 50’s, won the White Eagle Coffee Store Press 2009 Chapbook Contest. Her poems are forthcoming or appeared in Prairie Schooner, Solstice, San Pedro River Review, Smoky Blue Literary & Arts Magazine, and Valparaiso. “The Women” was nominated for publication in Pushcart Prize Best of the Small Presses by Bloodroot Magazine. Connemara and her husband live in Newton, Massachusetts.
Latest posts by Connemara Wadsworth (see all)
- only the bowls are empty - November 8, 2022