Tuesday poem #428 : Christina Shah : fettuccine all‘uovo No 94 (the carbonara poem)

 

 

our pasts lay dessicated
tangled pasta nests
in glassine windows 

waiting to be saline,
salient, pliable grist

as coal miners we emerge from black dust;
you add the rendered events

rough-cut jowl
and the pecorino romano
of umami’s imperfect memory 

and make fat silk threads

 

 

Christina Shah was born in Ottawa, lives in Vancouver, and works in heavy industry. Her poetry has appeared in various journals– including Arc, Vallum, The Fiddlehead, Grain, EVENT, and PRISM international. She recently completed her first full-length manuscript. On hot days, you’ll find her at a good swimming hole.

the Tuesday poem is curated by rob mclennan