Still life, Checked Tablecloth, Henri Matisse

My day began with a scant but roomy three line poem for breakfast…

Eating a Morning Poem

French bread toast

with a smear of lemon curd, a mandarin,

and a cup of tea.

It was simple, clean, fresh, pleasing, bright…all I could ideally ask of a breakfast… I composed my meal with intention and I delighted in every bit of it…the slight puckering sound of the curd jar opening for the first time; the careful slicing open of a French bread roll and the gentle flattening of it with my hands like molding a favorite pillow; the crevice filling, tart, textured spread of curd across the crunchy terrain of toast; the jeweled burst of each segment of mandarin and the residual glory of citrus that remained on my hands; the steadying fortification of hot strong tea to bring it all together.

A Vase with Two Handles, Henri Matisse

My day ended with the comforting rhythms and harmonies of a sonnet…rounded iambic edges, filling, chewy and yet precise. There was a bit of rice left in the bottom of a sack in the pantry and a short handful of lentils in their bag…into the pot of olive oiled and salted boiling water. A pinch of cumin into the bottom of my waiting bowl…a couple of spoonfuls of the cooking water…the lentils and rice…cracked pepper, fresh grated Parmesan, and a squeeze of lemon. A bowl of heartfelt praise, honoring joy, flavor, balance, and care.