Antoni Ooto
Garlic
was the first thing you’d smell
at 49 Lime Street.
Next to oxygen, it was a life force.
Depending on time or season,
windows open or shut,
rooms had it by degrees.
Used for cooking,
protection against the “Malocchio,”
and as a medicinal supplement…
Giovanina ground it fine
mixing it with olive oil and black pepper––
dipped her finger in
and swabbed my sore throat.
Rocking
me asleep
neen na naw, neen na naw.
singing her lullaby
with the taste of garlic.
Antoni Ooto is a poet and flash fiction writer. Known for his abstract expressionist art, Antoni now adds his voice to poetry. His study of many poets has opened and offered him a new form of self-expression. Antoni's poems have been published by Eldritch Lake Magazine, Amethyst Review, The BeZine, Young Ravens Literary Review, and many others. He lives and works in upstate New York with his wife poet/ storyteller, Judy DeCroce.
was the first thing you’d smell
at 49 Lime Street.
Next to oxygen, it was a life force.
Depending on time or season,
windows open or shut,
rooms had it by degrees.
Used for cooking,
protection against the “Malocchio,”
and as a medicinal supplement…
Giovanina ground it fine
mixing it with olive oil and black pepper––
dipped her finger in
and swabbed my sore throat.
Rocking
me asleep
neen na naw, neen na naw.
singing her lullaby
with the taste of garlic.
Antoni Ooto is a poet and flash fiction writer. Known for his abstract expressionist art, Antoni now adds his voice to poetry. His study of many poets has opened and offered him a new form of self-expression. Antoni's poems have been published by Eldritch Lake Magazine, Amethyst Review, The BeZine, Young Ravens Literary Review, and many others. He lives and works in upstate New York with his wife poet/ storyteller, Judy DeCroce.