Poetry

By Jordi Alonso

Andrew Marvell Goes to Williams Sonoma
                                after “To His Coy Mistress”

Had I but world enough and thyme
and leisure too, to pass the time
while buying—I would window shop
the newest pans; the freshest crop
of lavender from France, flown in
last night would fuel my only sin.
Extravagance in cooking makes
for novel drinks and tastier cakes;
I’d, by the checkout counter find
a tool to grate an orange rind
in record time—and then I’d see
A new Sonoma coupon: “Free
cocktail shaker when you spend
this much before October ends.
I knew I had to have it! Hell,
20 percent off mint as well?
Had I but world enough and time,
some Brussels sprouts, white truffle oil,
to fry, sauté, or just to boil
and drizzle on some haute cuisine
respectively…
                      Vanilla beans!
They’re “rare”, “from Madagascar” and
would go quite well in next week’s flan.
Love, you should, if you please, refuse
until I’ve found us some Chartreuse.
Those lonely poets long ago
could never say what we all know
they should. It’s better to be clear
when one would like to cuddle near
a fireplace, or, if that’s not the style,
to go for, just to pass the while.
If you love veggies, then, I know
of a cute garden we could grow
some carrots in. If you like chard
come dig some furrows in my yard.
If it is true all you have eyes
for is fresh bread, I too will rise.
Oh, finally, lest I forget
and have my silence to regret,
do let me know if you like dill
when we come to my place to chill.

Jordi Alonso graduated with an AB in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Kenyon College in the spring of 2014, where he studied poetry and literary translation. He was the first Turner Fellow in Poetry at SUNY Stony Brook where he received his MFA, and is now a Gus T. Ridgel Fellow at the University of Missouri, Columbia where he is a PhD candidate studying English, Classics, and the cultural translation of nymphs and fauns in anglophone literature of the long nineteenth century. His first book, a collection of erotic poems inspired by Sappho, Honeyvoiced, was published by XOXOX Press in November of 2014. His chapbook, The Lovers’ Phrasebook, was published in 2017 by Red Flag Press.