I never did love the knife.
Just once I felt his dull
serrations. It wasn’t his fault.
He didn’t intend to cut me.
But after that, his very weight
against me made me cringe.
For a long time, I was obsessed
with plates. The cup accused
me of chasing anything flat
and perhaps there was some truth
in her words, though I never lusted
for a trivet. I dreamed of plates—
oh god, sometimes two
or even three at a time—
slipping into my folds.
Those long nights in the dark drawer.
The silky sheen of porcelain skin.
The subtle rubbing.
It had to end.
I was a wreck in the morning,
a wrinkled mess. Couldn’t lie still.
I talked to the washing machine,
the clothes line, the iron,
even the drawer,
until everyone was sick
of my pathetic whining.
Funny, what ended it was a picnic
at the beach: sand in my seams
and the plates were done with me.
After that, there were dalliances—
goblet, candelabra, pepper mill.
I’ve never told anyone this,
but one night, wine-soaked after a party,
I got into it with the centerpiece.
Best not to discuss it.
The cup—jealous, I suppose—
made insinuations about my
“relations” with the table,
but that was too incestuous,
even for me.
I hated what had happened
to my reputation.
For a couple of months,
I stayed in the drawer,
did my yoga, listened
to the chatter of the napkins.
I’m more serious now, subdued.
The cup says all I think about
is my work. But that’s not true.
All I think about is Soap.
The almost inaudible popping
of iridescent bubbles,
warm and wet around me.
The heady scent that lingers
in my very fibers.
Nobody—and I should know, right?
—nobody dances like Soap.
I want my Soap. Again. Now.
Come on, Gravy.
Do your worst, Spaghetti.
Let me feel your coffee, Cup.

————

A freelance writer, artist and poet, J.I. Kleinberg works and plays with words and blogs most days at chocolateisaverb.wordpress.com. Her writing has appeared in numerous journals, recently including Clover/A Literary Rag, Feathertale, Northwind, Mojave River Review, and Star 82 Review. She lives in Bellingham, Washington, and doesn’t own a television.