First of all, don’t rush the thing.

Don’t allow it to scorch or burn

or thicken into tar on the stovetop.

Like soup or stew, this is a dish served

 

by patience.  And don’t be tempted

to dress it up unnecessarily, adding

expensive and exotic ingredients

from the specialty grocery, making it

 

into something that it is not.  Truth be told,

if what you put into the pot is a little

past its prime, the salvaged scraps

from last night or the night before, so much

 

the better.  Spice it sparingly;

allowing the character of the

constituent parts to sing

through.  Once you get low heat

 

under it, lid it loosely

and walk away.  Alchemy cannot happen

under your direct gaze;  it takes time

and a little darkness

 

in order for everything

to come together, for the rescued

scraps to reemerge, soft and glossy,

rich and surprising and nourishing.