Kitchen
There’s sliced cheese in the fridge,
underneath the avocados I’ll forget about.
You can make sandwiches
until you’re tired & you don’t have to ask
how many you’re allowed.
I want you to be like me. I want
you to have reasons to live. Maybe two
of those reasons are sandwiches
& cheese. Maybe our people
are watching from heaven & horrified,
or watching from the living room
& disappointed, but
we can also boil elbows al dente
& grate a block of whatever else is hiding
in the fridge. & maybe old-style mustard,
maybe peas. Third & fourth reasons.
Or maybe we weren’t meant to
be making mac & cheese fancy, or at all
& that’s why it hasn’t been
turning out right. Or maybe my gaze
over your shoulder is what’s curdling
the sauce & I should step back
& trust that you know
what color the flame should be.
Noreen Ocampo (she/her) is a Filipina American writer and poet based in metro-Atlanta. She studies English, film, and media at Emory University and currently writes for COUNTERCLOCK and {m}aganda magazine. She is also a regular contributor for Marías at Sampaguitas. Say hi on Twitter @maybenoreen!