Rudolf’s Diner

©Mariana Xavier, 2008

First, refuse all recipes.
Next, fetch a deep pot from the clutter of mismatched lids in the cupboard below.

Finally, take this empty pot out back to the dark lush grass. Find the power spot and lay pot upside down. Walk around it three times, singing Bob Marley’s “Stir It Up”.

Finally finally, lay down next to the pot, expecting nothing. Fall asleep to clothespins falling off the line.

When the sun has baked you fragrant and full, stand up and pray namaste over the pot until it rumbles and shakes. Continue with your prayers. The pot, when the timing is perfect, rolls over like a playful puppy and sits upright. Inside is a thick full orange soup made from singing bells and slow-rising suns.

You bend down. The fragrance knocks you backward.

©Judith Clarke, 2008