cooking by numbers

cooking by numbers

A Poem by jacob erin-cilberto


cooking by numbers

 

 

you are the one ingredient

missing from my recipe,

 

I have kept you in my cupboard

for most of my life,

 

looking...

ah, I think I have found you,

just behind my heart

 

next to those scars

I have overused

in too many dishes

concocted of painful regret

 

let's taste this now

it should have just the right

seasoning.

 

 

 

erin-cilberto

10/2/2020

© 2020 jacob erin-cilberto


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Featured Review

This sounds as though you had the missing ingredient all along. You just didn't know it. Sort of sad, but ends on a more uplifting note. The right amount of seasoning makes all the difference. Really like the title and the metaphor here Jacob.

Chris

Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

jacob erin-cilberto

3 Years Ago

thank you, Chris,
j.



Reviews

Cooking and love. Do fall upon the same plate. I liked how you made the words dance to perfect ending. Thank you Jacob for sharing the amazing words and your thoughts.
Coyote

Posted 3 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

3 Years Ago

and they often bleed into one another....thank you for your kind words, Coyote,
j.
Coyote Poetry

3 Years Ago

Hello Jacob and you are welcome.
Hey Jacob... a really "saucy" little poem.
Life can be like that. I like Spicey things
hidden under cover. Just being "Sassy".
touche! Pat

Posted 3 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

3 Years Ago

Ha ha ha...thanks, Pat.
j.
James Brown use to sing "Try me". "try me, try me, try me and your love will always be true" he sang. Seasoning is analogous to communication, perhaps in that farfetched world I live in...Wonderfully written Jacob.....dana

Posted 3 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

3 Years Ago

thank you for the kind words, dana,
Saw him in 1969....
at the end of the concert ther.. read more
Your poem harkens to the way we can hold onto hope, staying open to the possibility that the right spice is just behind the vinegar next to the smoked paprika. Despite all the ways love has been hidden over the years, ya never know unless you remain open to the spice-abilities (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

Posted 3 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

3 Years Ago

thank you, Margie...I never look behind the smoked paprika...I have to get more observant...
.. read more
Clever write J, are we not all some cooked up recipe not to everyone’s taste but sometimes we have people coming back for seconds, and of course, we all come with that special expiry date.

Posted 3 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

3 Years Ago

thank you, andrew,
j.
A perfect blend of heartache and sprinkles of
Cardamon... left upon a shelf of woebegone's...
flavored with Paprika. gently, Pat

Posted 3 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

3 Years Ago

thank you, Pat...
Sounds like too many portions of cooked goose.
If the poet still feels pain, he is, at least, not yet dead.
Hurt could well indicate a battered but viable hope.

Posted 3 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

3 Years Ago

thank you for your insightful words, Jimmy,
j.
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.
A precious ingredient can really make a dish tasteful from otherwise dull recipe of life..... Sometime we knowingly hide it in the cupboard for later use.... With right seasoning and at the right time.... :)

Posted 3 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

3 Years Ago

and it is still hidden...thank you, Dreamer,
j.
Creative wite! It would take me a long time to find someone behind my heart. I liked that part it really spoke to me. I work in a restaurant and have spent much time on the dish pit, thankfully only one day a week for a while. But it really spoke to me your poem did. tyfs

Posted 3 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

3 Years Ago

thank you, Cyprian,
j.
Perhaps this is the one missing ingredient needed to bring full flavour to this recipe.
I love the thought of that. :)

Posted 3 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

3 Years Ago

thank you, Ana,
j.

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15 Reviews
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Added on October 7, 2020
Last Updated on October 7, 2020

Author

jacob erin-cilberto
jacob erin-cilberto

Carbondale, IL



About
Originally from Bronx, NY, I live in Carbondale, Illinois...teach English at a community college and have been writing and publishing poetry since 1970. I am here to read for inspiration from other po.. more..

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