Thirteen Ways Of Looking At Chicken And Dumplings
I
I reheated the chicken and dumplings
my cousin made last night.
II
Do you remember when you made them for me,
there in your mom’s kitchen?
III
She grew up in Kentucky
but I don’t think of my cousin as “Southern.”
Her chicken and dumplings are the real deal though.
IV
It was so rare for us to have a meal together,
what with your baby and my other obligations.
V
The woman down the street from my cousin’s house
feeds the crows
so they come in their murderous hundreds.
VI
I can’t remember if this is a story you told me
or a thing I watched you do,
but in my memory you fed a squirrel
who often came to your living room window.
VII
As a Yankee, my comfort foods are no less rich,
but they have fewer dropped g’s.
VIII
The stoned dog barks at a passing crow.
IX
We had two chances and neither panned out.
Bad luck? A message from the universe?
That was the only time you cooked for me.
X
I put the rest of my cousin’s chicken and dumplings
back into her fridge
even though I could have eaten the whole batch.
XI
We walked the streets together,
stopping in the small shop of a Caribbean artist.
Whatever happened to that painting I bought?
XII
I washed them down with mandarin seltzer.
I do not like seltzer
but sometimes water is boring.
XIII
I’ve never let you go. Not completely.
The tastes and the smells and the songs
keep you near.
/ / /
21 February 2022
Latham NY
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