Recipe for Making Stew



Preparing for hunger
he peels and chops

[giving tender young carrots a mere scrub]
his heavy knife brutally slices squash

he cuts out a bad potato eye
the skin of onion betrays him

it slips and blood smears celery
is it still vegetarian this stew?

Dazed he stir-fries fennel and tofu
sprinkles the herbal solace of a woman

from memory including just a pinch
of last year's thyme

straining in sauce from a dark bottle
of haunted passata—his secret reveries

he adds more subtle flavourings—the taste of pain
he takes a small boy by the foot and drops him in

watching him struggle with acute embarrassment
the colour of beetroot

the cat stalks in through her personal door
contributing sage indifference

he whips in pepper and salt
this will be a dish for a queen!

He has made love dumplings with unseparated egg
he bombs them in with love

and turns the odorous mixture which bubbles
with deep joy of servitude

in time with clock chimes from the hall
and cries of children from the street

their mothers call out to them with warnings
for the man who eats stew alone

Clive Donovan
 
If you have any thoughts about this poem, Clive Donovan  would be pleased to hear them