Artichokes in Winter
for my mother
We pound artichokes by the darkening window,
Waiting for water to boil slowly.
Radiator’s heat softens the winter
That streaks crooked down the pane.
You tell me to let you know when it’s time
To put the artichokes into the pot.
When I see bubbles at the rim of the pot,
I tug at your sleeve pressed to the window
And look at the clock, but I can’t tell time,
And the things you call hours pass by me so slowly.
I wonder if artichokes feel any pain,
Or if they’re cold like I am in winter.
There are so many things I like about winter!
When we gather snow in a pot,
Our eyes almost frozen except for the pain
That spreads clear over our cheeks like a window.
When we have enough, we climb the stairs slowly,
Knowing we’ll eat snowcones in time.
I can even remember a time
When I dreamed it would always be winter,
And snowmen would never ever melt slowly
And spring would be one flower in a pot
We’d place on the sill under the window
To grow toward the sun behind the pane.
Your eyes look back at my from the pane.
I tell you that I think it’s time
But you see something outside the window.
Maybe you’re looking for another winter,
Bigger than the one we put in the pot
That always seems to melt so slowly.
But then you get up from your elbows
And turn your back on the watery pane.
You drop the artichokes into the pot–
I knew you wouldn’t forget them this time.
We eat slowly by the darkening window,
Out of the pot—no dishes this time.
A streetlamp’s light dances on the pane
As if it knows we have artichokes this winter.
Noelle Kocot is the author of six books of poetry, most recently, Soul in Space (Wave Books, 2013). She has also translated a book of poetry by the French poet, Tristan Corbiere, called Poet by Default. She’s won numerous awards for her writing, including those from The National Endowment for the Arts, The Fund for Poetry, The Academy of American Poets, The Lannan Foundation and The American Poetry Review. Her work has been widely anthologized, including in Best American Poetry 2001, 2012 and 2013 and Postmodern American Poetry: A Norton Anthology. So far, her work is being read and taught in at least 15 different countries. Originally from Brooklyn, she now lives in New Jersey and teaches writing in New York, including at The New School.
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