my family would laugh
if they knew my prompt for today
was salt.
salt is synonymous with me.
we are one in the same.
i crave salt.
no sweets for me but could you pass the chips...
and i live on an island.
surrounded by salt water.
when i think of salt
i think of my dad,
who told us when we were kids
that pepper was bad for you...
but salt?
we could eat as much salt as we wanted.
my dad still eats as much salt
as he did back then.
i think of my dad
and how his remedy for many things was salt water.
sore throat,
gargle with salt water.
got a cut,
rinse it in salt water.
want to get a tan...don't use baby oil (which we also did)
go out in the water,
salt water attracts the sun,
didn't you know?
i think of salt and i think
of hot lazy summer days laying in the sand
listening to the waves lap against the rocks
inhaling the tangy air
listening the kids laughing and yelling from a distance...
i think of garden fresh tomatoes and cucumbers,
eaten whole
with a sprinkling of salt...
juices running down your chin
but it was too good to care.
i think of crowded family suppers,
arms jostling against each other
and plates being passed back and forth
someone asks who has the salt
and the inevitable joke
"either your father or your sister has it".
i am synonymous with salt.
i am infused, embedded and ingrained.
want to see more? go see these girls:
Monica Lacey
Samantha Christensen
