Kitchen Secrets

When the eyes are alone,
the mind will wander
and thus follows the heart

One hundred years in a kitchen
juicing lime para sangria
(carrying the base root of 'blood',
I am suspicious)
Heaven knows the secrets
hidden in recipe cards
battered and stained.
How many hidden loves
have been baked into the cake?
One, ten, twelve, a thousand?

What of iron-willed restraints
secreted in soup,
and kisses like bombs
discovered between master
and maid
How many whispered footfalls,
tenderly in the dark,
how many unspoken I love yous?

You could never know
even with every interview
every book in your hand.
Like a chef, every woman
is entitled to a secret

or three.