artwork: ralph murre
Recipe for Autumn
by
Joan Wiese Johannes
You
do not need a recipe.
All
you need has gathered
in
your freezer, on your doorstep,
and
on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator
where
the bunch of celery, minus
the
thin stalk the cookbook called for,
begs
you to let it flavor soup.
You
do not need to leave home.
In
the freezer there are ham hocks boiled
when
the price was low
and
corn on the cob bought from the farmer
who
crumpled your money
into
the pocket of his overalls,
making
himself richer, making you richer too.
You
do not need the market.
Use
the potatoes that appeared at the office
next
to the sign, Help Yourself,
tomatoes
from the picnic table
where
your neighbor puts produce
she
wants to share,
the
purple beans the poet brought you,
and
the stray peppers left on your porch.
You
do not need to wait.
Even
the catsup to thicken and brighten
your
broth has settled in the plastic bowl
where
your husband poured it after he
knocked
the bottle off the pantry shelf.
You
do not need a recipe;
all
you need is here.
~
first published in Wisconsin Trails
