THE DOMESTIC
Nothing more natural than our misery
Our rooms impacted: flush with rot
Grimy kitchen, abandoned by us both
I cooked there once a week; a meal
A rare, bright treat. I would lay it out
for you to eat. Then, a hundred-some
fortnights, clean the dishes with your
father’s spit, my grandmother’s tongue
to serve as a sponge. I lived in there.
I live there now, though you have dragged
it far behind you, into a floodplain full of
bobbing apples. I never escaped our
kitchen. Each knife slice for you, all
these white globs of garlic, every
grainy splash of salt, dash of broth
Poured straight in your screaming mouth.

Hershel Burgh is a queer, Jewish trans man based out of Northwest Arkansas.  He lives with his partner in a one bedroom apartment that has no drawers and one cat.