Everyday Gestures by M.J. Iuppa

          For my daughter, Meghan Rose

I stand here, before this stove, stirring the pot's
simmering sauce, tasting the tang that drips from
my spoon; feeling the brief poof of steam anointing
my face, a thousand times, in the turn of hours,
wondering if this work in itself is wonder: whose
recipes do I savor these many years, keeping
their secrets in quart glass jars?         

I think of life that happens outside of me, what
I can't imagine is going on while I am here, and
you know I am here, and you are there, miles
away, waiting for your gardenia to bloom on
your vanity, in the steam of your bath, some-
thing unexpected and pure, and spicy, like
jasmine, like harmony and grace, like this.



M.J. Iuppa's fourth poetry collection is This Thirst (Kelsay Books, 2017). For the past 30 years, she has lived on a small farm near the shores of Lake Ontario. Check out her blog: mjiuppa.blogspot.com for her musings on writing, sustainability & life's stew.