musings, life lessons & poetry from Theresa Jarosz Alberti

Tag: family

Poetry Challenge Day 7: “Sausage Links”

Today’s poem was inspired by the errand I ran, in preparation for family Easter traditions. The poem explains it all, hope you enjoy!

Sausage Links

It’s a few days before Easter.
The kids will be coming for brunch.
I head downtown to Kramarczuk’s,
the Eastern European deli my relatives
have always worshipped. Both sides
of my family are Polish, and sausage
is a requirement for every holiday.
Not just any sausage: these long,
smoky, garlicky links, hand-made,
authentic Old World, a savory splurge.  Continue reading

Poem: What You Cannot Erase

Greetings from this way-too-cold-and-snowy Minneapolis morning. In an effort to write more, connect more, blog more, I bring you the first installment of Poetry Monday. Have a great day!

{Dedicated to those estranged from family}

What You Cannot Erase

Here in my mirror
in a fleeting glance,
sometimes your brown eyes
look back at me,
the thin lips of your smile,
or that expression I used
to see on your face.
At midlife now
I recognize
your chin, your jowls.
It’s always a surprise,
unexpected,
strangely not
unpleasant. Continue reading

Warning: Detours and Crisis Ahead…

A lot has changed for me in the last 6 months. Spring and summer are known as road construction season in Minnesota, and I find I’m on a long detour now, off-road from where I thought I was going. It’s not horrible — I know some people going through really horrific detours in their life. Mine is challenging and difficult, but really just AFGO (Another Fucking Growth Opportunity, or as we writers say: more material).

In the previous post, I wrote about my efforts to go from temping jobs to pursuing freelance business writing full time. Just as I was putting the final touches on my planning and research, I started to get hit by some things that threw me off track…. Continue reading

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