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Son

Into the iron pan, I place
the salmon seasoned by my hands,
sprinkling enough coriander
so that he might be taken back
to some Polish rain, a great-
grandfather there he never met.
I add bits of sea salt with lavender
so that his tongue might question.
Enough lemon so that he will not
complain. He will eat this alone.
Or he might share the pink center
with his bold cat who lives here
too now. He will eat this with a fork
as well as his fingers. He will
eat the crisp skin of the fish.
When he is done, his dish will look
like an October field scraped by wind,
scattered with rose leaves.

—
Nancy Takacs is the author of eight collections of poetry, the latest of which is Dearest Water (Mayapple Press, 2022). She is a recipient of The Juniper Prize, a finalist for the National Poetry Series, two 15 Bytes magazine full-length poetry awards, and other awards. She has twice been a resident fellow at Ucross. Recent publications: About Place, Kestrel, Baltimore Review, and On the Seawall. Nancy is the inaugural poet laureate of Helper — Utah’s Art Hub — and the founder and director of the Steamboat Mountain Poetry Reading Series in Helper.

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