Potato Soup

Potato soup, scratch buttermilk biscuits….

Peel; wash; chop; roll rivoli between floured palms; pinch off.
Simmering soup.

Mix flour, butter, buttermilk; knead; roll; cut; dip.
Biscuits baking.


***

Here, suddenly in this country kitchen
A world away,
My grandmother.

Her country kitchen,
Galesburg, Illinois.

She prepares supper—
Kneading the rivoli and the biscuits, needing hearty food for her four girls.
(Nickels and dimes scarce on the farm.
The Great Depression about to occur but already here on this farm.)

Suddenly now my mother, joining us in my country kitchen.
She who
In this simple meal
Passed down her mother’s Love.

Our family meal—
A hearty meal for the hungry heart and soul.

Made now
In a country kitchen
In a country far away

Where I carry on and with me
The loving
Gestures of the generations.

18 March 2008