A Mother’s

Thanksgiving turkey

Christmas turkey

Chef Boy-Ar-Dee spaghetti

meatloaf

fish sticks

Hamburger Helper

Campbell’s chicken noodle soup

on rainy afternoons

grilled cheese sandwiches

for Sunday lunch

making me eat my peas

making me eat my apple

conjuring starving children in India

leg of lamb with sweet mint jelly

because we didn’t know

arms crushing me

so tight I could hardly breathe

even though I thought myself too old

I didn’t say no to you

to that womb warmth

because I had a sense

and you might have too

that our harvest moons would run out