Published Author Crystal Wilkinson: Kitchen Ghosts Poem from the book Perfect Black

Women Poets Explore the Ordinary

In order to write a good poem, the poet has to “switch our lens” on how we see the world. I like the subject to be specific and ordinary, and these women poets use the craft of poetry (feeling, story, language, line) to do just that.

First up:

Writer/Poet Crystal Wilkinson, former poet-laureate of Kentucky and an Affrilachian poet (poet of color from Appalachia). Her new book, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts:

This is a lyrical culinary journey that explores the hidden legacy of Black Appalachians through powerful storytelling alongside nearly forty comforting recipes from the former Poet Laureate of Kentucky.

Coming out in January 2024.

Crystal Wilkinson

The following poem is from:

Book: Perfect Black

Poem: Kitchen Ghosts by Crystal Wilkinson

 Sometimes the dead appear in my kitchen. I feel

my grandmother’s hand patting mine when i make cake.

Her head shakes No when i don’t add enough eggs or

too much butter. Sometimes she laughs & claps when

the yeast rolls rise. She cuts her eyes & sucks her teeth

when my dress is too short. Sometimes the dead just stand

in my office when the emails glare, when the boss needs one more

report, when the words i write won’t come.

The Ordinary: making a cake in your kitchen or dealing with emails at work. The Poetic Lens: What and how do the dead show up, if they show up or if you imagine they might, in everyday life? The poet tells us about the ghost by showing us how she feels her, how she cuts her eyes, or sucks her teeth.

PROMPTS:

How might the dead show up in one of your everyday tasks? Doing the laundry or changing a flat tire, what would be the mannerisms or the senses that might go on alert to tell you who was there? Was there a specific scent or a twitching eye?

I’d love to see what you come up with! A line or two or whatever you can get down.