A Poem, Cooking Corn

Cooking Corn
The boy picks up a husked corn
From the bucket of water she prepared.
Putting it on the grate
Over the hot coals.
Peeling crisped husks one by one.
Through the screen door
She mashes sweet potatoes.
Wine gurgles into a third glass,
A husk leaf is removed,
Corn is heated on hot coals
On a fire escape.
A new home.
Fragility.
Security.
Comfort.
Unease.
All battling within.
A wind flutters through an elm,
Making fluorescent the few coals
Heating moisture within each kernel.
Another husk leaf is peeled.
The sweet potatoes are ready.
The golden rows emerge
As the final husk peels are removed.

Sweet smoke through the neighbourhood.