DURING A DIFFICULT TIME, A GIFT OF HEARTWARMING, GOURMET FOOD CAN BE A COMFORT AND A HELP
When you died
I pulled apart fish slices from
Gold paper and ate like
The daughter of a king
Whole slabs rolled into my mouth
Rubbed on my tongue
Smooth as dolphin skin
The pears fit like eggs in
Their plastic cartons
Shoved behind them the card
“With Sympathy” in calligraphy
Calls like an invitation I found
In secret and will not share
With anybody
And then, it is time for the jelly
Finger all the way in
I draw my lips with strawberry
Spread some on a cracker
And make a smear on my neck, blood
Like a child, pretend something
Has gotten me; it's too late
Tucked into the seagrass woven
Gift basket the cheese spread
Is thicker than blood
Smells stronger than family
And I move it around the bread thinking
How many presents came with your loss
All this chocolate and
O God it is so good
To live like this
Brittany Leitner is a poet and journalist based in Brooklyn, NY and originally from San Antonio, Texas. Poems from her first chapbook "23 Emotions" won the Sequestrum new writer award and third place in the Palette Poetry contest in 2018. Her work has been published in No Dear, San Antonio Review, Bustle, Cathexis Northwest Press, and elsewhere.