Maria Zoccola

beat this real good (bone one)
                    an erasure from Bountiful Blessings: The Munford Presbyterian
                    Church Cookbook
(Munford, Tennessee, 1993)

love
          is easy to pull off bone.

i have divided this successfully
          between      juices and sugar,

so little time and effort
                              spent
                    with a knife,

red          and          unflattering,

removed from fire,

          fat                 eaten warm or cold.

it takes patience     and more patience.
it          takes its name
          from                 consumption.

          it does not move.

spring blossoms          on fine porcelain.

          my grandmother           crushed
                                             until her death.

i can remember      so little           from
anything.

                    soften and pucker.
                    blacken and collapse.

          i          do not open the door.

if it is               hot enough,
          it will          grind          me

           as fine as powder.

divider

 

slice thickly and cover (bone three)
                    an erasure from Bountiful Blessings: The Munford Presbyterian
                    Church Cookbook
(Munford, Tennessee, 1993)

today’s women
                         have become
costly.

                         i could hardly believe how
          futile

                         portions          such as these
allow          us          to become.

very quick, very easy, very               bitter.

                         another winner
                                        instead of salt.
                         milk
                                        replacing
                                                            pleasure.

follow the directions:
fill     your          cavity with
                                   white vinegar.

serve          the entire house
     your               heart.

break               yourself     into pieces
                         over and over.

i trust you will

                         remain
clear               and tender,

a meal that is
                         more than human effort,

slicing          yourself

                         away from the bone.

divider

 


Maria Zoccola is a queer Southern writer with deep roots in the Mississippi Delta. She has writing degrees from Emory University and Falmouth University. Her work has previously appeared or is forthcoming in Ploughshares, Kenyon Review, The Iowa Review, The Cincinnati Review, and elsewhere. Learn more about her work at mariazoccola.com