assignment: write a poem about food.

For just a few seconds
At the end of the day,
When
The only sound is the clink of
Fork tines on plates –

When
I have rotated
The spices on my rack,
Their metal lids
Glinting in fluorescent,
And extracted
What I wanted,
Flavors to react
And coalesce,
So sharp that
My tongue curls back
in defense –

When
I have chopped and
Mixed and
Broiled and
Sauteed –

When
The life has simmered
Out of all that I’ve
Severed, with my knife and with
My flame –

Then
We worship
At the altar of nourishment.

May it fill us.
May the fibers and cells
Nourish our own.

And I know
This is sacred,
A ritual of generations,
A reaffirmation
Of life.