October 28, 2025

suddenly, I am eating cranberries again

Visiting hours at the hospital, and I make sure to wash my hands
for the umpteenth time. Later, in the shower, the water hotter
than it needs to be, a double dose of shampoo. That night, I dream of
gravitational pulls, invaders at the roots dragging everything down.
By morning, I’ve assembled the ragtag army of erstwhile recruits
I’d left idling since the last delicate season: a bowl of ginger root dead
center on the kitchen island, lemons, rooibos tea. I gather a thick scarf
around my neck and a saucepan and get to work. Immunity is a state of hunger,
and I’m ravenous, filling a colander with the latest initiates. In the oven,
I place slabs of cabbage dusted with paprika and coarse salt, roast until crisp.