Sifting Through

NaPoWriMo 13 April: “Try your hand today at writing your own poem about a remembered, cherished landscape. It could be your grandmother’s backyard… At some point in the poem, include language or phrasing that would be unusual in normal, spoken speech – like a rhyme, or syntax that feels old-fashioned or high-toned.

Thanks to this prompt, I found myself back in my grandmother Maude May’s kitchen, where she could discuss anything from horse-and-buggy days to the space shuttle, yet would gently remind me of what was essential.

Sifting Through
for my grandmother, Maude May (1889-1995)

On breaks, through shirred eyes, Maude May
would look my way and say, “Land’s a-livin’ !
Bless this day,” before getting back to work,
her ginger root hands squeezing the flour sifter,
teaching me to sieve, retrieve only the best, leave
the rest to the mesh, believe the end will be cake.

Photo by Ben McLeod on Unsplash