Two Romanian American Poems

Two Romanian American Poems Mihaela Moscaliuc (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Photo of melanguer by nobito / Shutterstock.com Melangeur The manual couldn't be clearer about how even moisturetrapped in sugar could ruin the melangeur,so when the granite wheels screech and some unseenplastic insert breaks, you anger, but decide not to let an inattention so small dictate how you should love.Perhaps the cacao nibs weren't dry or hot enough. You scoop the coarse paste into a bowland step into the tub. Breasts and belly enrobedas in armor, you dream yourself Thalestris,the last Amazon queen whose sultriness survivedthough her historical presence remains disputed. You whittle desire into song. Don't turn on the faucet,don't want the water rushing to waste you. Tempering to temper: to bring to a suitable state by heating and cooling Condé Nast promises to let me inon the Best Chocolates from Around the Worldbut I already know where to find it.The melangeur's granite wheels have stoppedgrinding their teeth and the notesrising from our cellar enrobe your bodywith the elsewise, earthy, sweetclover hay finish of Cuyagua nibs.We know each other's melting pointsand have perfected the technique:cool down, bring back the heat,repeat, subdue excesstill molecules bondinto an adagio so smoothwe snap as only the best bars do,and call that ravishment. End Page 8 Mihaela Moscaliuc Mihaela Moscaliuc (mmoscaliuc.com) was born and raised in Romania. Her poetry collections include Cemetery Ink (2021) and a collection in Spanish titled Algunos poemas fugitivos (2023), translated by Frances Simán. In addition to two book-length translations, she edited Insane Devotion: On the Writing of Gerald Stern (2016) and co-edited Border Lines (2020). She directs the MA program in English at Monmouth University, New Jersey, where she teaches creative writing and literature and is translation editor for Plume. Copyright © 2024 World Literature Today and the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma