I need recipes for exotic dishes –
things they never dreamed of in
my ancestors’ hometown of Fly, Ohio.
What about Lost Sister Soup –
some strange mixture of bone broth,
spring greens, mushrooms
foraged in faraway hills,
and salt pure as baby’s blood?
I want a meat pie, its filling
the color of Phoenix feathers,
crust the color of a desert – one
where travelers never get thirsty
or lose their way in the night.
How about chocolate cake,
icing thick with
a Trinity of Spices?
I hope it’s true – one taste
cures any heartache.
Colette Tennant has three books of poetry: Commotion of Wings, Eden and After, and Sweet Gothic, just published. Her book, Religion in The Handmaid’s Tale: a Brief Guide, was published in 2019 to coincide with Atwood’s publication of The Testaments. Her poems have won various awards and have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes along with being published in various journals, including Prairie Schooner, Rattle, Southern Poetry Review, and Poetry Ireland Review. Colette is an English and Humanities Professor who has also taught art in Great Britain, Germany, and Italy.