Reading my poem “Garlic Press” for my radio interview with Victoria Onefrei. Link for the show will be coming as soon as I have it!

Garlic Press

For its mechanical ferocity 

Consider the garlic press:  

The most aggressive kitchen tool 

More violent than the tenderizer. 


Peel the transparent husk 

Push the shiny bulb 

Down into the cup 

Pressing its arched back 

Over the grid of holes 


Line up the plunger – 

Hinged silver block 

Created to crush – 

Grip the handles 

Squeeze  


Pressing the bulb into the screen 

Pushing past its initial resistance 

Until it breaks 


Garlic pulps through holes 

Splattering in shafts  

Splashing into the dish.