Kathryn Stripling Byer often works on her poems while in the kitchen. Her sixth book of poems is forthcoming from LSU Press next year.
A limited edition letterpress volume of sonnets titled SOUTHERN FICTIONS has been recently published by Jacar Press. Her blog, "Here, Where I Am" (which sometimes posts kitchen meditations), can be found at www.kathrynstriplingbyer.blogspot.com.
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SPRING CLEANING
for Chitra Divakaruni
I take stock of the spices
I’ve kept for too long--
coriander and cumin,
that catch-all called “curry,”
and paprika, accent
that’s always the first earthy
syllable, rich as Hungarian
sod swirling into the gulasz.
Masala and tandoori powders
a drooping wife might sniff
to kindle her passion
for waking back up again,
turmeric turning her fingertips
golden, a pinch of it
under her lip
like my grandmother’s snuff,
balm for aching wrists
after the grating of nutmeg
and cinnamon. Cayenne
for cleansing the sinuses.
Gesundheit! my grandmother,
framed on the wall by my pantry
exclaims! Dump them
simply because expiration
dates say so? Gourmet
magazine sneering “Off with their
lids, down the drain”?
I won’t do it. Just let me
stand here a little while longer,
inhaling their presence. Their names.