Blue Mountain Arts Poetry Contest

Love, War and Cooking
by Nicole K. Myers

Forty-First
Contest
Third Place

It was my grandmother
Who first taught me to cook, bake and preserve
Gulyás, palacsinta, lekvár,
The food of a home that she had to leave behind.
When she taught me this
The battle between us would be put on hold,
At least for a little while.
Now I am older,
I look at photos of her,
Much younger than I am now.
I wonder who she loved
And what she lost,
I wonder if we could have learned
to be allies, rather than adversaries.

The fight between us began early
And lasted up until her final day.
It was a battle between generations,
Between the world that she came from
And the world that I inhabited,
Between a lonely adult
And a lonely child,
Neither of us able to fit in to the present.

I wish that I could tell her
That only now can I imagine the bravery
It must have taken
To leave everything and start again,
And that it is because of her
That I still say “I love you”
Through cooking.

About the Author

Nicole K. Myers is an artist, art therapist, tutor and support worker. She is passionate about mental health, literacy and the importance of art and creative expression in helping us to find meaning and healing in our lives.