We sail to our sanctuary
On Wednesdays and Saturdays
We peel and chop on the eastern beach
And carry our fare to the south end
For exquisite preparation.
And while it warms,
We spread a towel on the western edge
And place olives in cold, tiny glasses
And stir our spirits
With the long spoon of discovery.
But always, always,
We sip from our glasses
At our tiny bar on the north shore.
This island in the middle,
At the heart of your kitchen,
Makes every occasion exotic
And many moments truly our own.
We sail gratefully after
To the mainland table
And two young warriors
Arrive to proclaim their exploits abroad.
We smile at each other
Over how our tiny excursion pales;
And we glory in this culmination.
Photo credit: Michelle Han
I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers March 2023 Slice of Life Challenge.
Real Teaching 
This is really beautiful! I love poetry that focuses on something as banal as the kitchen island and absolutely transforms it into something exotic and unusual. Well done!
Thank you! There is glory in the ordinary, isn’t there?
Paul, this:
And place olives in cold, tiny glasses
And stir our spirits
With the long spoon of discovery.
This is the pinnacle of poetry here – this discovery, the stirring of the spirits within the soul, within the (dirty martini?) glass….I love every part of the poem, but this one is particularly stirring and skirts on the intimacy between hearts.
For a moment I was transported to a faraway place and another time, just to chuckle upon finding myself at a kitchen island. But that is the thing about good poetry: it is a portal. It transcends. There’s a true feeling of savoring at the start…I love the layered meanings of “stir our spirits/With the long spoon of discovery”…building to an energetic celebration. It is the stuff of life, the rhythms of life, slow and savored, bursting forth, celebratory.
Lovely.
This is a lovely celebration of an ordinary moment made extraordinary. My favorite lines are “ And stir our spirits
With the long spoon of discovery.” A year or so ago we built a new patio in our back yard and installed a fire bowl so we could create moments of escape like the one you describe. Alas, we are far from the ocean, so the mountains and clear skies must suffice.
This is beautiful! Playing on the word island to share the ways that cooking serves as a vacation is so clever. The heart of your kitchen indeed!
Thank you! I was happy to find a metaphor in plain sight!
This is such a cool piece. I wish my island was as useful as yours. Mine is mostly covered in mail and kids’ art projects.