Trying to Restore Ourselves

 

—Photo by Gerard Sarnat

—Poetry by Gerard Sarnat, San Francisco, CA

—Photos Courtesy of Gerard Sarnat and Joseph Nolan

EDIBLE PRE-BREAKFAST AUGUST WALK

Four generations’ tradition
Interrupted last summer
Because of Corona

This year we’ve re-gathered
On that Nor Cal inland
Working family farm

To try to restore ourselves.
Each morning starts at
Dawn with milking

Setting laid eggs in baskets
Then sampling picked
Berries, stoned fruit

Tomatoes etc on saunter back
Before those of us on AM
KP duty convene in

Kitchen to whip up expected feast. 

 

 

 

—Photo Courtesy of Joseph Nolan

 

 

 

MOURNING F11 RED FLASHING LIGHT
ERROR MESSAGE

Sequester nostalgia already set in;
sentimental, irritating, obviously too wordy
waste of your own precious time…

despite consulting manual, website,
YouTube videos plus multiple calls to Miele
technical support line; double-vaxed

now so can have repair person come
inside kitchen; how I miss not having to bail
out our dishwasher each morning run.

 

 

 

—Cartoon Courtesy of Joseph Nolan

 

 

 

RITUAL FEMINIST GROUSING TRANSFORMATION

Days trapped in infinity
of endless housekeeping, feather
dusters plus scorching kitchens,
then each night for the week
none of us Jewish women
      sat all-male shiva.

When that minyan of men
finally emerged for their
customary cigarette-and-a-half
plod around my block, another
one of them had his heart attack
     g-d bless our sons.

 

 

 

Virus Lockdown

—Cartoon Courtesy of Joseph Nolan

 

 

 

ASHES ASHES ALL FALL DOWN

Stiff-hipped infinite
number of kitchen-counter
COVID-year sponge-downs

serried ranks smelled of
unique stench human manure/
limestone were undressed.  

 

 

 

 

 

FRUIT HUDDLE CUDDLE BUNNIES

After a [too as usually] exciting Shabbat
With all the geegaws and fixins’
Passed on by my grandkiddies
Who instead were playing
Toward crowd of guests

I popped each of them on their risers
In our daughter’s kitchen to fill
Up on various nuts plus berry
Goodies ‘til we three toddled
Upstairs to read some books

While they down last milkie ba-babas
Alongside pet rabbit George/Dotty
(Nobody can tell apart), closing
With fave Five Little Monkeys
Before now put boys to bed.

 

 

 

—Photo Courtesy of Gerard Sarnat

 

 

Bonus: SERVING THOSE WHO SERVED US  

i. Los Angeles Veterans Cemetery

Sped by hundred times
—suddenly you realize
classmates died in Nam
lie there like rows of dominos
—theory of war proved untrue.

 

 

 

—Photo Courtesy of Gerard Sarnat

 

ii. Unhoused, Forgotten

West side of VA
hospital, Veterans Row
Tent City’s allowed,
institutionalized ‘steada
rousted—national disgrace.

__________________

Today’s LittleNip:

CANNED HEAT KITSCH
—Gerard Sarnat

Penetrative sex
ain’t your only form cooking
but kitchen gets hot.

__________________

 

 

 

Gerard Sarnat

 

 

As promised last Sunday, we have more from Gerry Sarnat today, as we finish off September. Gerard Sarnat won San Francisco Poetry’s 2020 Contest, the Poetry in the Arts First Place Award, plus the Dorfman Prize, and has been nominated for handfuls of 2021 and previous Pushcarts, plus Best of the Net Awards. Gerry is widely published, including Hong Kong Review, Tokyo Poetry Journal, Buddhist Poetry Review, Gargoyle, Main Street Rag, New Delta Review, Arkansas Review, Hamilton-Stone Review, Northampton Review, New Haven Poetry Institute, Texas Review, Vonnegut Journal, Brooklyn Review, San Francisco Magazine, Monterey Poetry Review, The Los Angeles Review, and The New York Times, as well as by Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth, Penn, Columbia, North Dakota and University of Chicago presses. He has authored the collections, Homeless Chronicles, Disputes, 17s, and Melting the Ice King.

Gerry is a Harvard-trained physician who’s built and staffed clinics for the marginalized, as well as a Stanford professor and healthcare CEO. Currently he is devoting energy/resources to deal with climate justice, and serves on Climate Action Now’s board. Gerry’s been married since 1969, with three kids plus six grandsons, and is looking forward to potential future granddaughters. He lives in the hills above Stanford and Silicon Valley. See more about Gerard at gerardsarnat.com/. 

 

Welcome to the Kitchen, Gerry, and don’t be a stranger!

___________________

—Medusa

 

 

 

 

—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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