Nathan Gunter is vox poetica‘s managing editor. He also is the managing editor and interim editor of Oklahoma Today magazine.
The Woman Who Runs a Successful Restaurant
By Nathan Gunter
The meringue,
stacked high like skyscrapers,
looming over coconut cream and crust.
They groan with every bite.
Deep, vocal moans—as close as you can get
in polite company
to public sex.
It makes her happy
to make them happy.
To ladle rich gravy over buttery potatoes,
a hint of rosemary—her
dear grandmother living again
on their tongues,
briefly resurrected by the wizardry of recipe.
It makes her happy
to roll out dough every morning
for chicken and dumplings,
to drop pork chops into Crisco,
the pan staccato
the burn just so.
Their faces, shiny from warmth and grease,
from the conversation over a meal,
the zing of coffee and pie and
a cinnamon roll to go.
Cheeks, fleshy walls of happiness everywhere she looks.
She stops at McDonald’s on the way home
and doesn’t turn on the kitchen light.
She eats in the dark
and falls asleep on the couch.
Truly, wonderful, rich story, told vividly, as if words were the frames of a film. Congrats to Nate.
I like the movement of this poem and particularly the ending images of the woman buying food at McDonald’s then going home to the dark. A very moving poem, well done.
I really enjoyed this, especially the vivid, flavourful imagery. The ending also struck me as perfectly true.
A delightful poem.
I am glad to see your own work, Nathan! It paints a picture for me.
OMG you must tell me where her restaurant is. The sad truth of how hard we’ve worked and don’t allow ourselves the delights of others. This was very entertaining.
Yes, I can see this happening as you tell it. I’ve been in this place. Great picture, great poem. So lovely to see something from you, Nathan.