Gingerbread
recipes cut from newspaper
placed in a black binder
scotch-taped neatly to the page
tape with a translucent quality
as if insect wings had dried on the paper
mysterious brown ovals at the bottom
like toeless footprints of a curious creature
in pages of never-tasted sweets
I finally recognize a dessert that my mind and heart
remember: Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce
in her unforgettable script
beginning when I was eight step stool at her side
I measure the dry ingredients into the sifter:
the cloudy flour the aromatic cinnamon and cloves the pungent ginger
she creams the butter adds the sugar and the eggs
puts the bowl on the revolving mixer
I pour in the thick brown molasses
add the flour and spices
for the grand finale: I stir in the cup of hot water
after she greases and flours the pans
I pour in the batter
when the timer dings she gives me a potholder
to pull out the gingerbread and test it for doneness
I can almost taste the tart sweetness of the faintly yellow sauce
made from fresh lemons and powdered sugar
a perfect match for the gingerbread: it dribbles down the side
of the cooled cake
I sometimes ran my finger across the icing
got a crumb of gingerbread with it
licked it off when she wasn’t looking
the black binder a treasure a time with my mother
talking not required comfort reigned
I believed she was happy to have me beside her
Ellen Gerneaux Woods writes poetry and memoir and has published two books:The Watchful Heart Recedes, a poetry chapbook, Finishing Line Press, 2021; and Warriors in Transition, Word Project Press, 2016. Her work appears in literary journals including Persimmon Tree, The Bezine, Plum Tree Tavern, Blood and Thunder, among others. She is on the prose staff of The MacGuffin magazine.
recipes cut from newspaper
placed in a black binder
scotch-taped neatly to the page
tape with a translucent quality
as if insect wings had dried on the paper
mysterious brown ovals at the bottom
like toeless footprints of a curious creature
in pages of never-tasted sweets
I finally recognize a dessert that my mind and heart
remember: Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce
in her unforgettable script
beginning when I was eight step stool at her side
I measure the dry ingredients into the sifter:
the cloudy flour the aromatic cinnamon and cloves the pungent ginger
she creams the butter adds the sugar and the eggs
puts the bowl on the revolving mixer
I pour in the thick brown molasses
add the flour and spices
for the grand finale: I stir in the cup of hot water
after she greases and flours the pans
I pour in the batter
when the timer dings she gives me a potholder
to pull out the gingerbread and test it for doneness
I can almost taste the tart sweetness of the faintly yellow sauce
made from fresh lemons and powdered sugar
a perfect match for the gingerbread: it dribbles down the side
of the cooled cake
I sometimes ran my finger across the icing
got a crumb of gingerbread with it
licked it off when she wasn’t looking
the black binder a treasure a time with my mother
talking not required comfort reigned
I believed she was happy to have me beside her
Ellen Gerneaux Woods writes poetry and memoir and has published two books:The Watchful Heart Recedes, a poetry chapbook, Finishing Line Press, 2021; and Warriors in Transition, Word Project Press, 2016. Her work appears in literary journals including Persimmon Tree, The Bezine, Plum Tree Tavern, Blood and Thunder, among others. She is on the prose staff of The MacGuffin magazine.
