Eternity

Coconut milk

sugar and vinegar

snails and slugs

mix,  I  match

I let them roll

simmer in between

celery leaves

bittergourd skins

I seethe

I sweat

I open up

I extract

the essence of its taste

under its solemn fire

it brews

it bakes

it blooms

in every blow

in every breathe

in every palette

We touch

We imagine

every bite

of its meat

of its juice

trickle in

like passing

through

eternity.