by Andrea Potos  

GOSSIP

She enjoyed it as much as cooking or eating.   
It was an important part of living.--      
                   Marie Giordano

Didn¹t the grandmothers convene
at their kitchen tables, fingers patting

floral oilcloths as they sipped
their percolated coffee swirling

with crumbs of toast and cake,
as they spoke

of what could not be contained:
the news, like love, that must be shared,

the hunger and loneliness at the root
quelled,

the confirming replies:
Ah, ah.

from Yaya's Cloth (Iris Press)