"The Handmade Life" by Dia Calhoun

The Handmade Life

Even when you’re hungry
make the slow dish.
Bring in greens from the garden
you have ploughed with your bloodied heart,
potatoes you have dug from your dreams.

Even when you’re alone
set the table.
Choose plates you have painted
with your dancing feet,
napkins you have sung into swans.

Even when you’re starving
light the candles.
Shout out your gratitude and grace,
then sit down
with the handmade life.

Dia calhoun

Dia Calhoun is the author of seven young adult novels, including two verse novels, After the River the Sun (Atheneum, 2013) and Eva of the Farm (Atheneum, 2012). She won the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature. One of her poems is forthcoming in the Winter 2021 Issue of The EcoTheo Review. Calhoun is a mentor in the Children’s Literature Fellows Program for Stony Brook University. Learn more at diacalhoun.com.

Headshot: Shawn R. Zink

Photo Credit: Staff