Midwestern Holiday
There is nothing
quite like walking up
to a house with
the front door open,
looking through
the storm door, into
someone else’s world
even for just a moment
before entering, before
the aroma of funeral potatoes
and butter wafts
in from the kitchen, the crack
of a beer, uncle’s
laughter rising
above it all.
*
Ashley Kirkland writes in Ohio where she lives with her husband and sons. Her work can be found in Cordella Press, Boats Against the Current, The Citron Review, Naugatuck River Review, HAD, Major7thMagazine, among others. Her chapbook, BRUISED MOTHER, is available from Boats Against the Current. She is a poetry editor for 3Elements Literary Review. You can find her at lashleykirkland.bsky.social and lashleykirklandwriter on Instagram.
I love this little vignette (and it made me look up what the heck “funeral potatoes” were).
Buried in snow and subzero temps, this brought me back to a summer country day & the springy screech of that screen door opening. Thank you!