Stove Top

Stove Top

I salted the water
enough to make the noodles
taste like something

Leftover chicken
one soft carrot
peeled slow under the kitchen bulb

Mom’s shift at the hospital ran past midnight
water finding its boil
spoon scraping the aluminum pot

November rain
rapping against thin walls
the heater clicking on, off

In the cupboard
behind the corn
I was saving a red box

I read the directions twice
measured the butter carefully
stirred clockwise like it mattered

It thickened into everything
like the ad in the magazine
smelled like Thanksgiving

An eagle rode thermals
slipping along a jagged coastline
hunting for an easy dinner

No ceremony
bare feet on cool linoleum
warm vapor from the stove

Each forkful of the good stuff
mixed into the everyday
making Tuesday taste like celebration

-nl
65/100