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Published December 19, 2023 at 2:51 p.m. | Updated December 21, 2023 at 11:42 a.m.
Each evening my skillet proposes
something new to toss,
and simmer in its flat
bottom boat with maximum sizzle.
Adaptability is its creed. Call it
a frying pan if you must, my skillet
is versatile. It instructs just below
the boiling point; nothing sticks to it.
It sings as the sun sets on cherry tomatoes
kissing a scintillation of olive oil.
It scorches rice, orzo, couscous
and pastas of all sizes and shapes.
It invites a downpour of white wine
to reduce, the heavy cream to thicken.
There's mixing and mingling
in the evening's heat.
My senses come alive in the coupling
of minced garlic and bubbling oil, become one
in a fragrance that embraces me,
awakens my salivary glands.
If all you have is a skillet,
you have what it takes to unlock desire.
You have the Sean Connery
of cookware.
You may think you need more
and maybe you do, but light up
the stove top, chop up the onions,
chop all your forlorn leftovers,
the shriveled vegetables holed up
in back of your fridge, add it to that golden bowl,
the chalice of hot imaginings. Come to the lip
of all that quells your hungers.
"What My Skillet Teaches Me About Transformation" will appear in the forthcoming reprinting of Roads Taken: Contemporary Vermont Poetry, Third Edition, edited by Sydney Lea and Chard deNiord (Green Writers Press).
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About The Author
Nadell Fishman
Bio:
Nadell Fishman lives and writes in central Vermont. The most recent of her three poetry collections is Traveling, Traveling (2022, Finishing Line Press).
Nadell Fishman lives and writes in central Vermont. The most recent of her three poetry collections is Traveling, Traveling (2022, Finishing Line Press).
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