Sette cose fa la zuppa (Soup does seven things)
cava fame e sete attuta (relieves hunger and quenches thirst)
I mistook pang and parch
for dreams beyond reach,
spectral trains missed forever.
I mistook pang and parch
for dreams beyond reach,
spectral trains missed forever.
empie el ventre (fills the belly)
I filled the chasm with proxies.
Contents misaligned,
it bled like a sieve.
I filled the chasm with proxies.
Contents misaligned,
it bled like a sieve.
snetta il dente (sparkles the teeth)
What if full is not always sated?
What if quench could
glaze with shimmer?
What if full is not always sated?
What if quench could
glaze with shimmer?
fa dormire (makes you sleep)
What if I could trade
the bitter sleep of indifference
for a honeyed trance?
What if I could trade
the bitter sleep of indifference
for a honeyed trance?
fa smaltire (aids digestion)
I break apart my stagnant jigsaw,
rearrange the shards to nourish
startling sprouts of thyme.
I break apart my stagnant jigsaw,
rearrange the shards to nourish
startling sprouts of thyme.
e la guancia fa arrossire (colors the cheeks)
Garlic and basil steep in simmered oil.
Peperoncino flakes raise a flush.
Zest will slake my future.
Garlic and basil steep in simmered oil.
Peperoncino flakes raise a flush.
Zest will slake my future.
‘Sette cose fa la zuppa’ – Italian proverb
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Margaret Bleichman is an emerging poet, queer activist and educator with writing in Kitchen Table Quarterly, Fifth Wheel, Fauxmoir, The Dewdrop, and Between Us. Their poetry has won awards in two Joe Gouveia Outermost Poetry contests. It is inspired by their lived experience as a first-generation American with refugee parents. A software engineer and professor, they helped establish historic same-sex partner employee health benefits and many STEM programs to engage underrepresented students.
