Bella Koschalk
Ode to my Red Cuisinart Kettle
When we make tea, we become
witchy, we become our mothers.
In urgencies, I turn to bagged
lavender and chamomile
and let myself swallow it and it’s like listening
to my mother
saying prayers before bed to a god that will otherwise go
unmentioned.
I drink the world and it sustains me.
I wonder how thirsty I’d be without this red kettle.
We trace palm lines and listen close to loose leaf tea.
I address illnesses with hands like my mother’s:
Hands that tell homemade stories.
This is what it means to heal:
boil water and pour.
When we make tea, our hands are steady.
I say things with confidence
I love it here. I feel warm.
I remedy, I remedy.
My mother used to want to heal all that was numb in me,
all that stayed awake.
Now
I know answers
and I become woman
and I let myself fall asleep.
Bella Koschalk is a creative writing major at Idyllwild Arts Academy. She has been recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for her poetry and fiction. She was a semi-finalist for the 2019 Faulkner Wisdom Short Story competition, as well as receiving an honorable mention from the Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest. Her work has appeared in CutBank Literary Magazine, Sonder Midwest, and elsewhere.
When we make tea, we become
witchy, we become our mothers.
In urgencies, I turn to bagged
lavender and chamomile
and let myself swallow it and it’s like listening
to my mother
saying prayers before bed to a god that will otherwise go
unmentioned.
I drink the world and it sustains me.
I wonder how thirsty I’d be without this red kettle.
We trace palm lines and listen close to loose leaf tea.
I address illnesses with hands like my mother’s:
Hands that tell homemade stories.
This is what it means to heal:
boil water and pour.
When we make tea, our hands are steady.
I say things with confidence
I love it here. I feel warm.
I remedy, I remedy.
My mother used to want to heal all that was numb in me,
all that stayed awake.
Now
I know answers
and I become woman
and I let myself fall asleep.
Bella Koschalk is a creative writing major at Idyllwild Arts Academy. She has been recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for her poetry and fiction. She was a semi-finalist for the 2019 Faulkner Wisdom Short Story competition, as well as receiving an honorable mention from the Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest. Her work has appeared in CutBank Literary Magazine, Sonder Midwest, and elsewhere.