Onions n Eggs

by Terrie Leigh Relf

Liver and Onions on a Sunday

Sometimes poems will take you places you don't want to go--
like milk-soaked liver and onions for Sunday dinner.
Fried bacon and onions aren't as bad, I suppose, but
sometimes those poems will take control--and you don't want to go!
Doused with flour, fried in fat-it's enough to make you gag.
So take a breath, then hold your nose, before taking a bite...
Sometimes poems will take you places you don't want to go.
like milk-soaked liver and onions on a Sunday.

Meringue

12 eggs
I used 12 eggs to make meringue
but it never peaked or stiffened
I'd whip and beat, stir and scrape
begging it to rise.

I suppose I mixed the ingredients out-of-order
added sugar gradually when
I really should have dumped it in all at once-
and at low speed
ok, ok, so I should have used my hands rather
than a techno-gadeget-shut up already!

now where did I put those kitchen knives?

perhaps it's because he heard the screams
but when my neighbor burst through the door
I was pretty calm
well, cal-mer.

"Don't worry," I tell him
"I'm ok, really."

He looks into the bowl
"it's just meringue, nothing to get so upset over!"

but he doesn't realize-how could he?
that a woman's worth is measured in eggs.

[Terrie Leigh Relf, M.A. lives in San Diego, CA, USA. Her poetry has appeared in a variety of genre and non-genre publications, including three chapbooks: Lap Danced by the Muse (writersmonthly, 2002), Metro Madness (lucy westenra ebooks, 2003), and Jupiter's Eye (Sam's Dot Publishing, 2004). In 2005, her poem, "a poet on board" was nominated for the Rhysling Award. Reach her tlrelf@cox.net]