Deborah Rosch Eifert is a poet and clinical psychologist. Her poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by the literary publication, Constellations. Her work has been published in The Gateway Review, Persephone’s Daughters, the 'Poets of Maine 2018' anthology, and the anthology “Exhuming Alexandria,” among others. She was a semifinalist in the 2018 Split Rock Review Chapbook Competition, and First Runner-up in the 2018 Esthetic Apostle Chapbook Contest. She received an Editor's Choice Award from *fws: journal of literature & art* in 2019, and was named ‘Poet of the Month’ by Flying Ketchup Press in March 2020. Deborah lives and writes in Maine, where she obsesses about rocky shores and spraying surf, proper English tea, fairy tales and where to find a decent cannoli.
Our judges selected her poem because of its mystical narrative of following a recipe for love. We liked the themes playing off the ideas that we often do mad things for love like sing loudly or deny our feelings. The voice of the poem must follow a complicated secret recipe and create a simple syrup with seeds she has grown herself.
The poem has humor, mystery, and pushes all its verbs into a single metaphor for cooking up love. This creates an enjoyable lyrical narrative story along with really pushing home the idea of how much the voice wants love to stay and how far we are willing to go to come home to love peaceably at night.
Thank you Dr. Rosch for sharing your work with us! You will find this poem and a few more by this poet in our final 2020 collection. There is still a chance to enter and win monthly through July 2020. Enter our March Poetry Contest here. Final selections will be in print and ebook. Title TBA. Enjoy this poem titled, "Grimoir: Magical Love Glue."
Grimoire: Magical Love Glue
To bind your final lover to you,
Use your tears from a bitter argument
to water an angelica plant, grown in secret.
During a waxing moon,
harvest the angelica seeds,
in a number equal to your age.
Singing as loudly as possible,
candy the angelica seeds in a simple syrup
of equal parts sugar and water, brought to a boil,
adding a touch of your blood, for color and salt.
In the quietest place you can find
which does not belong to you,
eat the sweetened angelica seeds one at a time,
whispering “Now and forever!”
between bites.
March home, beating a drum made from a gourd.
If you are discovered
during any of these steps,
jump up and shout
“I have forgotten
the names of
Every
Single
One
of my past lovers!”
Twirl three times in place,
then begin the whole process again.
Once you make it home,
wash tension away
with a hot bath.
Make a meal
to share with your chosen one,
consuming all.
Eat chocolate.
Speak together by touch
in the language
of old familiar bones.