A kind of violence
required —
thwack of knife on cutting board,
sweet potato’s tough flesh split,
onion chopped to tears
Pohk — the can opener’s
cranky circuit
liberates chick peas,
highlighting a need
for colour: green
pepper to wake
an eye, dispel
sluggishness — oh, logy
as a sleep-drugged bear,
stiff as the backyard’s crusted snow
Months until
green breaks through
In the pot, onions release
raucous fragrance,
yams soften, tomatoes
bleed acid into broth —
the steam a moist balm as I stir
Sue Chenette wrote the documentary poem What We Said, about her first-hand experiences as a social worker
during Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. Her latest collection, Clavier, Paris, Alyssum, is due out this fall.
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