A Chef is Born
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    August 2017

Imagine, for a moment,
tomorrow morning,
just past eight o'clock.
Imagine Mother humming
downstairs in the kitchen
as she stirs a heavy pot
of goodness-knows-what.

Imagine the little boy
tugging at her arm to ask,
    "Can I help, too?"
as he eyes the gleaming knife
beside the ripe tomatoes,
and the cool blue flame
flirting with the stove-top.

Imagine, now, his face
as she reaches for a bowl
of unshelled sweet-peas
with a hand as weathered
as the old, scored curring-board
on which she sets it
for him to work on.

Would you believe that this
is how a chef is born?