Cook Thoroughly Before Serving by Helen Victoria Anderson

It is rude to bring up your feelings

whole and inflict them, raw,

on your friends.

Chopped, browned, and stewed,

they are much easier

for your tasters to chew.

Fictionalised and abstracted,

your emotions may even bake

into quite the palatable pie,

sliced with line breaks

and seasoned with meter,

to be dished up with confidence

to any hungry guests

lucky enough to find themselves

at your table.

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Helen Victoria Anderson (she/her) lives on the North East coast of England. Author of 'Piece by Piece: Remembering Georgina: A Mother's Memoir' (Slipway, 2015) and a poetry chapbook 'Way Out' (Black Light Engine Press, 2017), she is a bereaved mother, a young-ish widow, and a believer in word-power. Twitter: @HelenVAnderson