Red Peony (photo credit: Seamus Brandon Kiel @ http://www.seamuskiel.com/)

Chance Operations

Crusty saucepan soaking in the sink.  Un-
stable pyramid of dinner plates, bowls,
a vase, silverware, wine goblets and one
strand of linguine festooning a roll.

Cautiously, I attempt to pull a dish
from the pile to rinse and use, but my grip
slides on a gruel of pesto, fried fish
and sour cream. The whole shebang teeters, slips,

and falls, clattering in the stainless-steel
basin.  Damn!  Did I wake my roommate up?
No.  How lucky.  Using my fingers to feel
what’s safe to lift, I uncover a cup

full of coffee and one battered peony
so red in its pool of black bilge, I let it be.

*Click on the arrow icon below to hear Malcolm Farley read “Chance Operations”