pots and pans, image by Ernest Roy, on Pixabay, modified
The Wisdom of Doing Dishes
Endeavoring to find some passion
for what I deem mundane
I fail to find room in my heart
for this one cast iron pan—
the stubborn specks of a burned pork chop
like barnacles determined to stick to a ship’s hull.
Here I am, standing before a sink
as deep as the Grand Canyon,
staring at a cast iron black hole,
wrestling with my ambition to mean
something, while the dishes are not done
and the garbage bag is full,
obsessed with what is crucial to my destiny,
as the mundane goes on playing card tricks.
*
My Occupation
Sitting to write an epic poem
denouncing an empire, I watch
my granddaughters chasing
bubbles in the garden
and I can’t help surrendering
my outrage to the probability of joy.
As I now decide to start an ode
I catch a glimpse on my TV
of thousands leaving countries
devastated by war,
and sonnets grow thorns
and ghazals shatter like bubbles.
This poem is not meant
to be a tour of my spirit
nor the dictum of my soul,
but only a sincere invitation:
Here’s my imperfect heart,
may I see yours?
____________________
Juan Pablo Mobili was born in Buenos Aires, and adopted by New York. His poems appear or will
be appearing in The American Journal of Poetry,
Hanging Loose Press, South Florida Poetry Journal, Louisville Review, Impspired (UK), The Wild Word (Germany), and Otoliths (Australia), among others.
His work received an Honorable Mention from the International Human Rights Art Festival, and multiple nominations for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. His chapbook, “Contraband,” was published in 2022, and he’s the Guest Editor for The Banyan Review’s
Spring 2023 issue.
October 2023 Issue
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