Baba Ganoush

Oblong violet eggs,
ripe from stem. Someone took me;
someone halved me,
spooned seeds of me to parted lips,
left me in pieces on a frown line.
Thought I would stomach
better with tahini,
tilted to a roasting fire,
clean-burning split logs, fog
of a Baobab tree.
Smoke me. Softer.
Soften me,
split a lemon over me,
salt me, smash me together with olives, oil, cloves.
Serve me at supper. Say I taste splendid.

____

Elly Luisa Salah is a first-year MFA candidate in Poetry at Bowling Green State University. Elly also attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she completed her undergraduate degree in sociology and creative writing. Her poetry has been featured in DeFunkt Magazine, and others. Her poetry explores form, social structures, and gender relations. Elly lives in Bowling Green, Ohio, and she can usually be found spending time with her clingy cats.