How to Cook Alone
BY KARRIE WAARALA
The chopping board suffers the snick
of the knife as Tom Waits smears smog
into the steam. Risotto, I
am told, merely requires patience,
good wine and good music. Somewhere
between asparagus and lemon
zest, misplaced in the incessant
stirring, I sprinkle my children’s
names into the pot. The cooking
wine is sharp angles in my mouth.
I am saving the good bottle
for company that is not coming.
The chopping board suffers the snick
of the knife as Tom Waits smears smog
into the steam. Risotto, I
am told, merely requires patience,
good wine and good music. Somewhere
between asparagus and lemon
zest, misplaced in the incessant
stirring, I sprinkle my children’s
names into the pot. The cooking
wine is sharp angles in my mouth.
I am saving the good bottle
for company that is not coming.
Karrie Waarala holds an MFA from the Stonecoast Program at University of Southern Maine. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in journals such as Iron Horse Literary Review, PANK, The Collagist, Arsenic Lobster, and Radius. Karrie is currently working on finding a home for her wayward manuscript of circus sideshow poems, upon which she based her one-woman show, LONG GONE: A Poetry Sideshow. She really wishes she could tame tigers and swallow swords. She can be found online at: www.poetrysideshow.com.
