June 20, 2025
Madeira Miller
muscle memoryhe stood before me
a hot stove of a man
that I’d touched once
and then knew better
than to ever touch again
it’s an archaic lesson
we all learn before we’re tall enough
to reach the kitchen counter
without a stepping stool
then the years go by
a chronology of parables
often learned the hard way
don’t microwave plastic
don’t reuse the unwashed cutting board
don’t forget to turn off the stove
when my fingers brushed
against his cheek once again
I pulled away in an instant
withdrew into the safety
of my own solitude
in my twenty-fourth year
I can feel my hands
still burning
after Stanley Kunitz
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