The Week of Comfort Food

I shouldn’t be eating the crisps,
but pass them over please,
I need the salt;
salt of the earth
normality,
down to earth
human

I shouldn’t be eating the chocolate,
but the cupboard calls my name
from way across the house;
and I answer because
we are all being called
to find sweetness
and who am I to judge
either you or myself

I really shouldn’t have another biscuit
they are not part of my diet,
but the crunch suppresses the need
to grind my teeth while I am awake;
and being awake is more surreal
than the strange dreams
that appear deep in the night

My husband baked bread
while I worked on trying to solve
things I never intended to think about;
and there was something wholesome
that filled our home
as fear melted like butter
and we all stood together and marvelled
at the wonder that can rise
from the warmth of the oven.

© Tanya Southey