(for Zan Johns)
By the time I was born
instead of cooking, my grandmother made
dinner reservations and inspired delicious conversations
Though I’d heard tell stories of chicken fried in a cast iron skillet,
someone else’s memories of hot cornbread
drizzled with lavender honey,
the fluffiest biscuits ever
slathered with sweet butter
No cast iron skillet in this girl’s life
at least not yet
We have our traditions
celebrating holidays means Family
foods prepared by generations of women
with open hearts and skilled hands
Matzoh balls floating in hearty chicken soup,
briskets brimming with carrots and onions
in rich fragrant broth,
sponge cakes as light as air
Those Chanukah latkes
crisp on the edges, soft in the center
no matter how many mom makes
not a single latke is ever left
No cast iron skillet in this girl’s life
at least, not yet
It’s about time
Google yard-sales-near-me
arrive at sunrise
before the best stuff has been picked over
search tables
sink into muddy lawns garish with
funny gnomes, pink flamingos and Christmas lights
At the fourth house
behind cans of Spaghettios and organic baby food
I spy a good size cast iron skillet
Grab it
place a five dollar bill in the palm of the kid babysitting
the tables
run to my car clutching my find in old newspaper
Scrubbed that skillet for hours
attacking a crust of dirt and rust
until my hands are dark brown sparkling with
tiny splinters
I oil it to a beautiful sheen inside and out
place in a warm oven to dry
Now, there’s a skillet in this girl’s life seasoned with love
Jump forward with me ten years
My beloved niece, setting her Sabbath table
assisted by her two little girls, ages four and six
“Mama can we use Aunt Jill’s skillet to bake
our challah”, they chorus
I don’t see why not”, she replies
“Aunt Jill would love that we carry on the
tradition she began”.
©️Jill Sharon Kimmelman
Autumn 2023
BIO:
Jill Sharon Kimmelman is a two-time
Pushcart Prize-nominee in Poetry, 2017 & 2021,
and“Best Of The Net 2018.
Her international publishing credits include Vita Brevis Press, Spillwords Press, Fine Lines, Better Than Starbucks Poetry & Fiction Journal, Poetic Musings, The Poet Magazine, ILA Magazine, Prolific Pulse Press, World Inkers Network, Garden of Neuro, Writing In A Woman’s Voice, PLCS, Eric Publications, Writing On The Wall Global Magazine, and Prolific Pulse.Press, LLC,
Jill’s first book, “You Are The Poem”, was released in
November 2021. The ebook and iBook version was
released in April 2022. Jill’s poetry has appeared in more than 50 international literary publications.
Her second book is planned for 2025.
She lives in Delaware, USA with her husband,
Tim Little. Jill is a proud mother of her son Jordan Lawrence Halpern.
Comments