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