Photography © Jennifer Matthews

 

Mojo on the Menu

The arched waist and stiletto heels that linger beyond my doorway remind me of that woman who used to serve blues gumbo when I strictly ordered a mojo muffuletta. It’s what you call a subtle niche, the scent of seawater that infuses everything I ingest. I cringe whenever she raises her glass to me! I didn’t come all this way to be this lady’s labial bougainvillea, left to rot on Frenchmen Street. I have this same problem every time I wander far from the Garden District: dead leaves and flickering stars, the blues daddy black cat with acoustic intentions who insists on crossing my path. Supernatural longing with a side order of juju jambalaya! And no matter how much that randy runner wants to bang at my door, I know she still ain’t got my order right.

 

Connie Johnson is a Los Angeles, CA-based writer whose debut poetry collection, Everything is Distant Now (Blue Horse Press) is available on Amazon; In a Place of Dreams, her digital album/chapbook, was published by Jerry Jazz Musician. As for her favorite poetry-related quote, it’s by Lucille Clifton: “Poetry is a matter of life, not a matter of language.”

Poet/Photographer Jennifer Matthews’ poetry has been published in Nepal by Pen Himalaya and locally by the Wilderness Retreat Writers Organization, Midway Journal, The Somerville Times, Ibbetson Street Press and Boston Girl Guide. Jennifer was nominated for a poetry award by the Cambridge Arts Council for her book of poetry Fairy Tales and Misdemeanors. Her songs have been released nationally and internationally and her photography has been used as covers for a number of Ibbetson Street Press poetry books and has been exhibited at The Middle East Restaurant, 1369 Coffeehouses, Sound Bites Restaurant in Somerville and McLean Hospital.