Mabel Loves Her Mom’s Cupcakes
When she makes the chocolate ones,
she adds a real-butter cream cheese frosting
on top, the kind Mabel loves. And Mabel,
being 9, doesn’t care about fat, only cares
that her mom sometimes adds chocolate chunks
to the cupcake batter. She lets Mabel use
the mixmaster to blend and a spatula to clean
the sides. She lets her husband lick the bowl.
And she always makes extra when she
has a party order and when those cupcakes
bake, she mixes the frosting with
one block of cream cheese,
one stick of butter,
a lot of powder sugar,
and just a teaspoon of vanilla.
Her mom has to make extra frosting since
Mabel will eat it right from the bowl.
That frosting is Mabel’s favorite part.
All My Eggs In One Basket
Half the eggs in my basket
cracked, spilling yolk off the cliff
until a whir of creamy river
cascaded into the valleys
of blackberries. My mother
ground the eggshells into a fine
powder, added it to a chocolate
milkshake. I drank deeply, licking
the inside edge for every last
drop, holding the remaining
eggs safely.
