Maria Terrone
Knives
“In most kitchens all over Jerusalem or Tel Aviv, there
are Palestinians and Israelis cooking together,
shoulder to shoulder, with long knives.”
—A Chef for Peace, quoted in The New York Times
Sulphured air, the fire
beneath convulsing pots,
sudden roar of jets
igniting. Sweat of bodies
whirling in chaotic space,
blunt impact, flying shards.
Orders shouted through tents
of steam.
But the only blood here
is the lamb’s as it pools
on a scarred plank.
The knives,
crossed daily against
ancient stone,
keep to themselves.
Missing The Names
Not to know the names of birds
who call to one another
guttural or tuneful through trees,
or the name of the tree
from which this leaf drifted to my feet,
which I pick up to inspect—
ashy underside exposed, spiraling
to a tight brown corkscrew at its tip,
reminding me of native hats I’ve seen
in photos of a distant people,
who live, I think, somewhere
in the mountains of Asia, maybe Bhutan,
maybe I can find them,
not to know the name of every nation
in Asia, Africa, South America, the world
in flux, the names of nations changing
as people revolt and take aim,
while impossibly brilliant birds squawk above
plazas and plains, the bloodied nameless.
"Knives" first appeared in the Autumn 2010 issue of The Hudson Review.
Bio
Maria Terrone is the author of two poetry collections: A Secret Room in Fall, co-winner of the McGovern Prize (Ashland Poetry Press) and The Bodies We Were Loaned (The Word Works), as well as a chapbook, American Gothic, Take 2 (Finishing Line Press). Here Pushcart-Prize nominated work has appeared in such magazines as Poetry, Notre Dame Review, Poetry International and in over a dozen anthologies, including the new Knopf anthology, Killer Verse: Poems About Murder and Mayhem. In her day job, she is Assistant Vice President for Communications at Queens College, City University of New York. Visit her at mariaterrone.com