Bright Morning, and: The Task, and: Ars Poetica: Cooking

Abstract

Bright Morning, and: The Task, and: Ars Poetica: Cooking Alicia Ostriker (bio) Bright Morning For Abigail Jean Hoenig Ostriker On her bat mitzvah A girl stands in a doorwaywhat a bright morning [End Page 117] what fresh aireverything underground is pushing up The girl walks down the street with her nose in a bookwhat a bright morningshe knows she herself is the bookshe is learning to read The letters are magicthe letters are holythe letters are fire and waterwhat a bright morning O if we could speakwhat a bright morningO if our accumulated wisdomwere a magic ring she could rub or wings to fly The girl would still smile to herselfthe girl would smile to herself and walk forwardher secrets are holywhat a bright morning this is The Task It is not incumbent on you to finish the task. Neither are you free to give it up. —Pirke Avot Get a move onit saysevery year, day, hour, minutekeep going, keepingup the good work, go on with your task, itnever stops reminding mehow badly I am doing it* [End Page 118] I have to straighten outmy love life firstget that on an even keel I say, but it saysdon't fool yourself love lives never getstraightened out they are by nature crookedget back to workyou don't have forever*Live to you now from thehypothalamus here it comes againold drone at the base of my skullsays listen to me womanyou are nothing but dustand the wounded worldis still in your hands You know the fine old Yiddish word potchke?Meaning something like mess aroundor fiddle around? In a nice way? You know how I like to potchke aroundin the kitchen? Without a recipe?Stirring? Salting and peppering, Adding wine, adding a little more wine?Adding a few more herbs? Maybe mushrooms?Maybe capers? Like that. Mm. [End Page 119] Alicia Ostriker Alicia Ostriker has published eleven volumes of poetry, most recently No Heaven. She has been twice a National Book Award finalist, and appears in many anthologies of Jewish poetry. Her most recent prose work is For the Love of God: The Bible as an Open Book. Ostriker is Professor Emerita of Rutgers University and teaches in the Low-residency Poetry MFA Program of Drew University. Copyright © 2009 Purdue University