Joshua Michael Stewart

The Kitchen Sink

Cylinder of white water, bridge connecting silver with silver, the percussive slap into the basin,
spiraling down the drain, invisibly rising toward the clouds: cycle, history—back before the parting of
the Red Sea, centuries before Noah’s flood, a link to the first mother, her water breaking, spilling
humanity across Africa, and now you, here in this kitchen, one hand on your hip, the other holding a
glass to your lips, breath fogging the rim, the house silent as 3 a. m., a levee breaks in your mind, and
a held-back realization rushes across your internal landscape: the bridge extends to your children, and
one day they’ll stand on higher ground as the village of you is washed away, tears flowing down their
faces, polished black shoes, wet grass.

Joshua Michael Stewart is the author of Break Every String and The Bastard Children of Dharma Bums. His poems have appeared in the Massachusetts Review, Salamander, Plainsongs, Brilliant Corners, and many other publications. His third poetry collection, Love Something, will be published by Main Street Rag. www.joshuamichaelstewart.com