a recipe for ambrosia

  she made a quilt when they married

 formed  calico and flowered

flour sack scraps into  butterflies 

squared off on a field  of white bunting. 

i keep it in her hope chest.

he restored an  oak

chest of drawers on their  porch,

 cursing the fine ragweed pollen spilling 

through the screens on lingering

late summer evenings .

when i rub it with oil 

 yellow flakes glint like

lapidary scales under

an electron microscope.

holidays she made

 the custard from scratch, a trick

i never learned.he  cut whole 

marshmallows into quarters.

pineapple pieces, shredded

coconut, walnuts, maraschino

cherries folded like children

into sweet thick flannels.

a mouthful of bliss.