Happy InSoWriMo!

Shannon has proclaimed this month InSoWriMo—International Sonnet-Writing Month: write a sonnet every week in December. I’m going to give it a whirl. Will you join us? Come on…it will be fun.

Here is my first contribution—my first try at a sonnet since about 1991 and a rare breach of my rule against ever writing anything on-line about my in-laws.

Thanksgiving With the In-Laws

My husband’s mother’s generous with salt
and family stories, bacon grease, and cheese.
While mixing this year’s stuffing, she recalled
Thanksgiving at her ex’s sister’s. She

wouldn’t put in any salt or butter
There was no fat, and everything was steamed.
Before we went, I planned it with her mother—
she brought the salt; I smuggled in the cream.

But, while she talked and worked the stuffing bowl,
I heard my husband’s brother’s girlfriend laugh
as, cooking up the green bean casserole,
she cut the called-for butter slab in half.

We families need our secret recipes
if we’re to cook and share a meal in peace.

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