Cease-Fire Sabbath
- Cease-Fire Sabbath
Like a drum deftly seasonedby patinas of generations,the stewpot sits on the stove,handles holding gallonsof broth and cooking stocks,cups of barley and beans,diced potatoes,apostrophic curls of celery,snapped green beans,pounds of legs and thighs,necks, kidneys and heartswrapped in the same wax paperfrom Grandma Lena's icebox.
Thyme, pepper, and dillspread a wavy blanket,moisten, fall, surround [End Page 84] the soft tomatoesand come to rest where theyjoin the communityof reds and greens,oranges and whites,simmering after the boilin a four-hour prayerfor the Lithuanian villagesand Lodz. [End Page 85]
Michele F. Cooper is the author of three books including Posting the Watch (WordTech, 2008) and founding editor of the Newport Review, Crone's Nest, and the Premier Poets chapbook series. She won Poetry Canada's Rhymed Poetry Competition and the TallGrass Poetry Competition. She recently left the outer edge of a horse farm in Portsmouth, RI, spent a year in Providence, and now writes and works as a book editor in the Cleveland area.
