HILARY ELFICK

What are we eating tonight?

 

‘What are we eating tonight?’

-his excuse the bottle opener.
But what distracts is his anxiety
that forty years with me
have not yet quite dispelled
that this potato in my hand
is the right sort for roasting
and that the dark slab of venison
in its plastic wrap will have been hung
the recommended length of time.
Why is cooking such a deal
once you have plates that match
and people coming dressed just so
at just the time you said?
We caught mackerel once and
stripped it bleeding on an open deck,
fixed it with onions, cider.
That boat was blue, rocking under
faded mainsail, varnish chipped
where we had swung against a dirty wharf.

But that was not this man
nor this house here
nor yet this kitchen top
where I just plucked a peeler from the drawer.

Roxana-Monica Mîndrican

Hilary Elfick
 

Ce mancam asta seara?

-tirbusonul e scuza lui.
Dar ce-i atrage atentia e temerea ca
patruzeci de ani petrecuti impreuna
inca nu s-au risipit,
ca acest cartof din mana mea
e potrivit pentru a fi copt
si ca bucata intunecata de carne
in ambalaju-i de plastic va fi pastrata
exact atat cat trebuie.
De ce ne da gatitul atata bataie de cap
daca avem farfurii asortate
si meseni ce sosesc imbracati adecvat
la ora stabilita ?
odata am pescuit scrumbii si
le-am intins sangerande acolo pe punte
le-am asezonat cu ceapa si cidru.
Barca aceea era albastra, se legana
sub o vela decolorata, cu vopseaua crapata
pluteam langa un debarcader murdar.
Dar nu era acest barbat,
nici aceasta casa
si nici macar aceasta bucatarie
de unde tocmai am scos un curatator din sertar.