October 2017
Joan Mazza
joan.mazza@gmail.com
joan.mazza@gmail.com
I’m retired from my work as a microbiologist and later as a psychotherapist. I love the freedom to do as I please, to create handmade one-of-a-kind cards or sew quilts, or work on poetry, dipping in and out of it like a tern running along the shore. By reading and writing poetry, I come to terms with my obsessions. www.JoanMazza.com
Before the first bite
Pause to see the colors
in front of you. Reflect
on those who grew
this wheat and ground
its heart, turned semolina
into pasta. Who tends
olive groves, presses
the fruit into oil, bottles it.
Grazie.
People planted this broccoli,
this garlic, watered and weeded
seedlings, harvested them
when ripe, brought them
to your kitchen. Say
thank you.
On this one chicken thigh,
muscle that supported
a bird that clucked,
pecked, ate bugs in grass—
proteins for the muscles
supporting you.
Someone designed
your dishes and silverware,
conceived the patterns.
Drink up. The water
from your well is pumped
to your sinks with power
from those who toil
at Rappahannock Cooperative.
Merci.
Pause to remember
how much you depend
on the labor of others.
Mangia!
© 2017 Joan Mazza
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