NIGHT KITCHEN

The nervy stockpot cannot sleep
While sullen shadows damply flop
Around the kitchen's steamy deep.
The brassy tap drips drop on drop.

While sullen shadows damply flop
On chopping-boards once clean and white,
The brassy tap drips drop on drop.
Black-eyed potatoes stare at night.

On chopping-boards once clean and white,
Oh short are vegetable lives!
Black-eyed potatoes stare at night
Reflected in perspiring knives.

"Oh short are vegetable lives!"
The rotting onions blindly weep.
Reflected in perspiring knives,
The nervy stockpot cannot sleep.