A Chef's Prayer
Let me create
with the knife and flame
draw down blood
from the slaughter
capture it
and make it an offering
back to life
black and satisfying
mysteriousness of my soul
rising to meet the challenge
it brings
grain from grass
held in my hand
brushed by in the fields of eternity
harvested
and shaped into crackling loaves
in the depths of hell
anointed with the nectar of the grass
life from the sun
vicious winds and soothing rains
have brought her full circle to me
finished in a gauntlet of paddles
it is punished to yield
golden ointment
I repose
collecting this moment
the valiant mystique
of black marbled paper thin slices fall
and arise like a sickening tale from the earth
penetrating my core
The sweetness of ruby jewels
ripened under torment and great care
I release them
I release their beauty
I release them for you and for the world
on a bed of blackened scale
gasping for breath
it curls upward
under the flash of a blade
white hot coals cleanse
adorned in a drizzle of off white
flecks of green pungent life
as it makes the passage home
The crunch and crackle
from the ancient ground
emergent to the tune of the universe
have been cleaved from the root
and now play their humble notes
with the salt from the sea
and seared, pink flesh
which once hung like horror show
in a coffin of burning heady smoke
expelled from mighty trees
whose seed lies covering the forest floor
who can fathom this mystery of life
not I
like a ship tossed on her waves
I do what I was born to do
she has called me
she has collected me
she has embraced me
anointed me with the oil from her virgin trees
running down my head
and into the cauldron
from which I coax
all manner of mythical creatures
that are purposed to sustain
and complete the story
one end of the circle
running into the next
As I take my place
among the ranks of the redeemed
tattooed skin
pierced flesh
broken warriors
misfits from their own lives
arrayed in clean robes
now servants of life's great mystery
tailors of consciousness
artists of all dimensions
