a city reader

SWEETEST

Best plate of anything

ever

was a plate of Christmas cookies

on our cozy kitchen table tight up against a window

of outdoor weather.

My mother insecurely was not a baker.

Her sister down the street could make ‘em though and

so could the aunt who lived with us and

so could the also-cozy bakery on Main Street

whose unique color combinations of sugar and frosting

we’re eye-catching

as was the orange hair on the Fitzpatrick family 

who ran the place.