Tuesday, November 10, 2020

What Am I Saving? by M.J. Iuppa

I stir the pan, watching plum
                                        tomatoes melt into a pottage

that bubbles & pops, sending
                                        its hot splash onto the stove top.

I am staring, I know, without
                                        seeing what’s happening

before me. I smell the burn of
                                        splotch simmering to carbon.

Elements smoke. I accidentally
                                        touch the heat with my fingertips

as I take a swipe with my sponge,
                                        but I don’t feel a thing.

I keep stirring, locked in position, like
                                        a woman spellbound—an ineffable

moment, if anyone were to watch me
                                        going through the motions

of putting by.



M.J. Iuppa’s fourth poetry collection is This Thirst (Kelsay Books, 2017). For the past 32 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.

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