She lifts a strawberry from the colander, holds it jewel-like between her fingertips. With the tip of a paring knife she carves a “v,” excising the green hull. The choreography of her hands is precise, methodical. A glistening heap of red collects in a stoneware dish, a small pile of valentines. Juice drips down her fingers, slow and sticky as blood.

The deft motion of her wrist is second nature. She feels exactly how much to sever to make each wound more appealing, remove the unnecessary, salvage beauty from carnage. Knows instinctively how to preserve the most of every small heart.

Aruni Wijesinghe

is a project manager, ESL teacher, erstwhile belly dance instructor, and occasional sous chef. A grateful Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, she has work published nationally and internationally both online and in print journals and anthologies. Her debut poetry collection, 2 Revere Place (Moon Tide Press, 2022), is a love letter to her family and miraculous childhood in New York. Her latest collection, The Litany of Missing (Arroyo Seco Press, 2022), is a meditation on loss, longing, and love.

Author’s website: https://aruniwrites.com/