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The Sunday Poem is published weekly, and strives to include the poet reading their work.
Sarai Nichole reads her poem at its conclusion.
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Heavy Whipping Cream, Sriracha
Too much butter.
Not enough salt.
Discontinued hot sauce.
Was it heavy cream?
Milk?
Should I have swallowed the laugh
when you said, sriracha.
A flick of the wrist
or a heavy pour?
The oil spits at me.
The spatula’s too stiff.
The yolks break early.
We make batch after batch.
We taste.
We nod.
We lie.
Maybe it wasn’t the eggs.
Maybe it was the tune,
your timing,
hum under breath
as the pan warmed.
Perhaps it was the old jazz station,
and someone who loves you
setting the table just behind—
a devotion
no one ever wrote down.
I close the kitchen,
sip the lowball,
assess the damage;
spoons, shells,
cheese—congealed,
the after of trying.
I’ll return to it tomorrow.
Same cream.
Same sauce.
Different station.
I’ll wait for you again in the morning.
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The poem was inspired by the loss of my grandfather, and the ways in which grief demanded to be acknowledged at the time. I found myself longing for his famous scrambled eggs, the ones no one in the family could ever get enough of. I haven’t had them in about three years now, since he passed. And one quiet day, I realized I never would again—no matter how many people tried. How frustrating that feeling is.
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Listen to Sarai Nichole read her poem
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Sarai Nichole is a Black Canadian writer whose work explores grief, womanhood, and emotional inheritance. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in JMWW, Anti-Heroin Chic, Neon & Smoke, and Jerry Jazz Musician. She is the author of the Amazon bestselling poetry collection Excerpts From My Journal.
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Listen to the 1976 recording of guitarist Pat Martino performing the Carl Fischer/Frankie Laine composition “We’ll Be Together Again” (with Gil Goldstein, piano). [Universal Music Group]
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Click for:
More poetry on Jerry Jazz Musician
War. Remembrance. Walls. The High Price of Authoritarianism – by editor/publisher Joe Maita
“The Sound of Becoming,” J.C. Michaels’ winning story in the 70th Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest
More short fiction on Jerry Jazz Musician
Information about how to submit your poetry or short fiction
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Jerry Jazz Musician…human produced since 1999
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a devotion
no one ever wrote down.
So glad that you wrote this lovely tribute to your grandfather, Sarai.
It’s a wonderful poem.