With the news so uniformly depressing
I retreat to my kitchen 
and make some pinto beans with a little bacon
and some fresh-baked cornbread 
to sop up the juice,

and sit down to eat 
with the ghost of my Aunt Addie at my elbow
clinking the ice cubes
in her glass of sweet tea,
waiting for me to ask the blessing.

                                                                       March 9, 2020