“Appetite” for My Mother, Ruth Evelyn Johnston Thompson

Mother died at 90 last May Day. It seems like an ocean of time and then, hardly any time at all. You can read more about my mother on the “Sightlines” portion of this site on the Sweet Little Dove page including:

* Ruth Thompson Life Story
* Mother’s Memorial Service

And the poems:

*Under Mama’s Yew Tree
* Queen for a Day
* Crocus
* Appetite

This are 22 poems for mother in Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary
and “Appetite” is the last poem in her section.

APPETITE
For Mother,sweet little dove
by Janet Grace Riehl

At the end of her life, so much left undone.
So much promise left to be won.
So much sugar left unspun.

So many recipes left in the book.
So many foods left to be cooked.
So many meals left to be tasted.
So many roasts left to be basted.

So many tastes left to devour.
Her appetite still grows be the hour.
Even her stomach growl shows power.

Collected in boxes, bags, and barrels
her recipes keep her up all night.
She comes to bed now, and we turn off the light.