Jessica Heron
Traditional Meal Taken Alone
I get up to clear my plate.
Nothing different, nothing
discovered. Just a song
purged. From my phone
I heard back in the day
on the boulevard of Linden.
Gramma Blanche moved
matzoh brie around in a pan.
I have all her plates,
glasses, pots, and these
hands, this height, everything
the same in our kitchens barely
big enough to move in. Fed,
I fold my hands, wait. The
recipe hasn’t changed
for ages. The only difference is
Blanche did the dishes
right away, while I watch them
sit, stained.
Jessica Heron has been published in Wormwood Magazine and Pitch/Niche and her work is forthcoming in the Horror Zine and Black Petals. She is thrilled to be a November 2021 poet for the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project. When she’s not enmeshed in the writing process, she is building toward her MFA in Creative Writing at Cedar Crest College and managing life with hidden disabilities. As a nearly lifelong resident of the state of New Jersey, she especially loves her NJ beaches and parks.