Poetry by Sharon Scholl
Two chilis, three tablespoons of adobo.
I measured them carefully, stirred them
into a pot with the vegetables prescribed
by an old recipe tucked inside
my deceased grandfather’s papers.
The label, Family Recipe, intrigued me.
When the simmering assembly seemed done,
I dipped a spoon, snagged a load, gagged,
and pronounced the dish inedible.
Now I’m on the phone with Mom, describing
my culinary disaster, begging to know
how it all went wrong.
Family Recipe? she snorts. None of us
would touch his concoctions. I swear,
that man had a cast iron stomach.
Sharon Scholl is a retired college teacher who convenes a poetry critique group and maintains a website of her original music free for download. Her poetry collections, Seasons, Remains, Classifieds, and Ghosts are available via Amazon Books. Her poems are current in eMerge and Yugen Review.
