Kitchen Companions
by Joan Kantor
for my mother, who so joyfully shared her kitchen with me
My mother’s been waiting for me
to open the small drawer beside the stove,
where smiling with anticipation,
I reach for the dingy-pink metal measuring spoons
that once were hers.
They clatter and clink,
till firmly cradled in my hands,
they radiate a warmth
that rushes through me.
As time disappears,
she and I silently begin to converse
and proceed with preparations
for a meal she’ll never share.
She’d like me to use her crusty black cast iron pan,
but I’m saving its heft
for the day those tiny spoons
will no longer be enough
to stir her up.
Joan Kantor is the author of five poetry collections. She won First Place for poetry in The 2015 Writers Digest Self Published Book Awards for Fading Into Focus, a memoir focused on Alzheimer’s Disease and family relationships. Her memoir, Holding It Together (a hybrid of poetry and prose) tells the story of surviving a family legacy of mental illness. Joan also took first place for poetry in The 2013 Hackney Literary Awards, has been widely published in literary journals, been a mentor and judge in the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival’s Fresh Voices program, and currently performs in Stringing Words Together, a violin and poetry duo. Her most recent collection, Too Close For Comfort, was published in the summer of 2016 (Aldrich Press).