“Jane in the Kitchen” by Jessica Berry

Unlock my body and move myself to dance

Into warm liquid, flowing, blowing glass

(Wilco - Heavy Metal Drummer)

“Listen. This is the best sound in the world…”

Anticipation for the glug of wine against an apple glass -

Assured as a magician’s click, click, click

Blacksmith-red; bending solids into shapes

Of sunlight on kitchen tiles

Half diamond, loosely hanging under the sink

Your crisp white trainers nip between

Day and night; May’s open-windowed fever to sighing fridge

As basil, chilli, cherry tomatoes

Rise from their slumber; settle on surfaces -

Coiling around your jug of flowers, sculpting butter in the bell jar -

Nothing here escapes their incense

You take the volume up; Wilco gig to your quiet Belfast street

Singing of your dinner-time Charleston; our sympathetic drink;

These apple glasses it poured itself into; all a river, generating electricity -

Flashing into this intangible moment of freedom

You tell me about driving home over hills today,

How the sun drubbed through the sky; gloriously smacked your screen -

Germinating a whispered thankfulness for your life

When you share this short story, stirring the rich sauce, I think:

Yes, this is the best sound in the world

Jessica Berry grew up beside the seaside of Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. She is an English teacher at the Belfast Model School for Girls. In 2021, Jessica was placed in Bangor’s annual poetry contest hosted by the Aspects Literary Festival. Her work has also been included in publications such as Drawn to the Light and A New Ulster. She is working on her first poetry collection; inspired by Irish myths and fables.