Around Here

-

AROUND HERE


In some places there’s a right

way of doing things,


and the more I hang around

this world the more I reckon


this is one of them, the secret

ingredient folded into a recipe


book kept safe in the nook

behind the cupboard,


which you're only privy to—

along with all the other 


rules of what's-what and how-much

written in the cook’s near-


illegible slant—after being

in the family for far longer


than you or me can hope to stick

around. Good news is


they're passing out slices now,

and the flavor in these layers


doesn't care a lick about

if we've worked it out


before offering the whole of itself

on the tip of a plastic fork.


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