Submitted for Valentine’s Day Challenge — A LOVE[LY] Submission Call 2018

Celery Pea Soup

Poetry by Adrienne Unger

‘Leftovers’ wooden spoon by Sp00ntaneous

Watching a block of
celery pea soup,
I will it
to thaw

and speculate
on how ice
can last inside
a slurry boil,
wonder why
this hardened heart
holds on.

We cannot wait.
You pass me a wooden spoon.

Like our hunger
we want,
like how the heat strokes
the frozen corners
to make them fail.
We want,
like how the ice has
no choice but to fall away,
as I break away,
as you pull me
asunder.
I stir
with your hand
at the small of my back —
gentle now –
but later, you make me
feeble with the hot
and cold of those fingers
and that voice,
but which one
will come
I never know.

Today, you reach out
to guide the spoon.
You say
do it this way
so the fire always wins.