tonight
you put on some brown rice
which takes a little less than an hour.

When it is perhaps 2/3 of the way there
in a separate skillet
you sauté a bit of onion, a bit of bell pepper
till nicely caramelized
and add
a 60-cent can of black-eyed peas
and let that sizzle till the rice comes ready.

the trick is
there is a point past which
the liquid of the beans
transforms from juice
to some eloquent song
and though things are quite good and cooked through
before that point,
after that point
the density
the flavor
the feel upon the tongue is
the melding of disparate voices
into an angelic chord

I guess you’d call
the rice and black-eyed peas
hopping john,
a glass of wine his friend--

you don’t need to be rich
nor a gourmande
to eat very very well
half the battle
is to have your very nice skillet
on the burner at all times
ready to go
waiting for you
to light the flame
and tango
when a mealtime approaches