I don’t miss you every day

I didn’t when you were alive

Our relationship wasn’t like that

I do think of you sometimes…

When I make spaghetti sauce
When I listen to gospel music
When I defend unborn life

When I hear a particular twang in someone’s voice
When I smell the desert sage
When a preacher is filled with the Holy Ghost

When Blacks and Whites harmonize
and bring together the best of both cultures
I think of you

When my kids sing
When the music is loud
I see your thumbprint on their souls

There’s
Tamale pie
Pork ‘n Beans
Jiffy Cornbread
and Collard Greens
With the extra bit of salt
The dash of heat
The reserved bacon fat
I gift your flavors to the future

It’s been ten years and
I don’t think of you always
but when I do

You are there