Recollections
A poem by  Gary Grossman

Recollections

Home on a second grade
afternoon, I sit at the small
red formica table in
Gramma’s kitchen, doing
homework—inhaling thyme
and lemon from bubbling soup stock.

She said “I don’t have recipes”,
“it’s shitteryne*, a little this,
a little that” her English still
tethered to the Pale of Settlement.

She tossed a two fingered
pinch of sour salt into chicken
stock for today’s batch of shaav,
a sour grass and egg soup, straight
from her 1896 Ukrainian
village.

In Rochester, no Russian
sorrel, so it’s spinach, kale,
and sour salt.

Was it smell or taste that pulled
this over the transom of memory
from my hippocampal sea—no matter,
my lips are turning upwards.

*a Yiddish term meaning a little of this and a little of that

About the Author:

 Gary Grossman’s writing appears in 38 literary reviews and his piece “Mindfulness” is nominated for inclusion in Best Small Fictions 2023. Gary’s  poetry book (Lyrical Years) is available from Kelsay Press, and his second, What I Meant to Say… will be released by Impspired Press in Dec. 2023. His graphic novel, My Life in Fish… is available from todaysecologicalsolutions@gmail.com , and will be reissued by Impspired in 2024.

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