Romance with Compost
Lucia Cherciu
In November, we saved a Saturday for our date:
opened the compost bin and loaded the contents
into buckets. Newspapers, coffee grounds,
orange and apple peels, mango stones,
the remains of the fruits we devour. We watched
with interested disgust the worms, wondered
if all of them should be there. Close to the base,
the compost was a black matter like the curdles
of freshly strained mozzarella, fat and nourishing
for the soil. We spread the compost in the garden
imagining already the tomatoes and kale for next
year. Then my darling turned on the rototiller
and rolled the compost into the dirt: mounds
of half-done reminders of feasts and promises.
Lucia Cherciu was born in Romania and came to the United States in 1995. She is a Professor of English at SUNY / Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, NY, and she writes both in English and in Romanian. Her newest book of poetry, Edible Flowers, was published in 2015 by Main Street Rag. Her other books of poetry are Lepădarea de Limbă (Editura Vinea 2009) and Altoiul Râsului (Editura Brumar 2010). Her work was the winner of the “Unrequited” poetry prize and was nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Her web page is http://luciacherciu.webs.com.