2 June 2003 | Vol. 3, No. 2
Summer Kitchen
– for Erminna, my grandmother
Before there were appliances that whirr,
this place was the epicenter of summer sweets
made of tart fruits no one bakes anymore,
rhubarb and raspberry pies left to cool
while Erminna hung the wash to dry on the line
right outside. She wore an apron of pins,
the basket balanced on one hip,
the swollen stomach almost due, for
dough was first rolled out flat onto its back
then only had one place to go, waiting
for high heat to rise, but she craved
the chill of ice blocks split with a mallet
into splintered chunks. Running the salty cool
against her tongue, panting, perspiration droplets
rode down her sore spine. She steadied herself
with one hand against the chalky slate walls,
built to withstand August's pendulous weight.
About the author:
Melanie Faith graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1999 from Wilson College, where she majored in English, with a concentration in professional writing. She is an English, American History, and French tutor at The Mercersburg Academy. During the summers of 2001 and 2002, she taught an American History course for international students. In 2002, she ventured into the world of the poetry workshop and participated in four poetry readings. Her work has appeared in The Pedestal Magazine, Facets Magazine, Ken*Again, 3rd Muse, Promise, Thought Magazine, Pierian Springs, Rearview Quarterly, Verse Libre, Digges' Choice, Free Verse, Coelacanth Magazine, Flashquake, YAWP, August Cutter, and forthcoming from Adagio Verse Quarterly, Blue Fifth Review, Artemis Journal, Loop, and Carillon. She recently completed her first chapbook manuscript.
For further reading:
See the complete list of work by Melanie Faith at 42opus. Browse the contents of 42opus Vol. 3, No. 2, where "Summer Kitchen" ran on June 2, 2003. List other work with these same labels: poetry.
