Mark A. Forrester
Sortie
Their meals are ready to go. We cannot keep the food warm without it continuing to cook: baked potatoes, steamed fresh broccoli, the medium-rare tenderloin.
But in the upstairs dining room, the forty members of the dinner party are no longer seated at their tables. They are gathered instead around a small television set, watching reports of the first U.S. airstrikes against Iraq.
In the kitchen, the cooks and runners stand frozen in place, waiting for my signal. I pace and swear behind the line.
winter wind the full moon receding
About the Author
Mark Forrester has taught English at the University of Maryland for more than 25 years. He is a high school dropout, a former chef, and a husband, father, and grandfather.