IN OUR FORMICA SCULLERY
by Marina Kharkover
you are cutting
a blood orange
with a butter knife
I hand you a cleaver
transformed you are
Mr. Efficiency slicing it
into thick even slabs
it is sirloin raw red
on the cutting board
you lift the strange rings
drop them onto
slanted porcelain
we begin to peel
our fingers sticky
I bring one to my
hungry mouth
run my tongue
across the ridge
it tastes of kinship
A native of Mother Russia, Marina Kharkover is a middle school visual arts educator residing in Queens, NY. She has worked with a number of publications and on various licensing projects. She enjoys writing poetry and collecting vintage jewelry.