*
Lynne Viti’s fourth poetry collection is The Walk to Cefalù (Cornerstone Press, 2022). A faculty emerita in the Writing Program at Wellesley College, she serves on the Board of the New England Poetry Club and facilitates a poets-in-the schools program in Westwood, Massachusetts.

Lynne Viti — Photo by Richard Howard

Cooking for One, in Winter

Black asphalt lined with melting snow
two cars, hers in the garage
idle for months now—
a reliable machine, good on winter roads
a reminder of something
you’d rather not think about

closets need going through
crammed with scarves, handknit socks
sensible shoes, sweaters with small holes at the elbows
she refused to throw them away
said they still had some wear left.

Saturdays you tune the radio to her station
lean forward hoping for Leonard Cohen’s rasp.
Evenings, Iggy Pop, Bowie sing
as you stir the risotto
tracing circles in the pot

— Lynne Viti