Infinite Switch


A found poem from Associated Appliance, Inc. Invoice #267133
Re: Infinite Switch for Electric Range

Parts warranty is for replacement with like merchandise only.

What is like this life, these days, my heart?
Point me to the counter of like merchandise
I will shop and compare
I will keep what is marked with the infinite
I will purchase what knows its way
only by the light of my thoughts
wakes in the night to comfort the dark.

No electrical items can be returned. All warranty returns must be made
within fifteen days.

So, I cannot claim the like of my blood�s warranty,
There�s no exchange for any broken part.
I cannot return this Infinite Switch for it is
shocked with the current of the wind.
No one blindsides the wind
renders it static and mute -
Not in fifteen days.

All warranty credits are subject to factory approval.

Take me to the factory of lost dreams
those that escape just before I get my coffee
just before I take the dog out.
The dreams that leave a taste in my throat
a tug on the frontside of waking.
Only the factory can approve the relays of memory
only the warranty can grant the Infinite Switch.

Soup

I slice red onions, green zucchini,
peel small, white potatoes,
dice sweet, rosy tomatoes.
I find the last of the summer squash
cut it into half moon pieces of yellow
The mushrooms smell like the woods
for luck I cube a sweet potato
and stir them all in my blue soup pot.
I watch it simmer, even though
I hear you shouldn�t.
Next is parsley and basil,
garlic and tiny flakes of red pepper.
When it was done
I left your arms long enough
to bring a bowl to our bed.
We ate among the scattered pages
of the Sunday paper.
Later, when you had left,
I took some soup next door to Susie,
I put the rest in the freezer.
one day this winter, I�ll take it out
and remember your breath on my shoulder.
Tasting the soup
I will taste us.

                                                                                                © Joyce Wakefield

Loch Raven Review Winter 2005 — Vol. I, No. 2
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