“Pecan Pantoum” by Aubrey Brady

Pecan Pantoum

I pull at the pecan husk
attempting to extract the sweet meat
I remember from my childhood. 
We would travel for days 

to extract the sweetness
of warm winters.
We would travel for days
and across and through and towards  

the warmth of winter 
in New Mexico’s dry heat,  
across and through and towards long stretches 
of nothing, and sand, and family. 

In New Mexico’s dry heat  
we would bundle together 
and do nothing but sled white sands 
and build long blurry memories 

that now blend together, 
a kernel spot blighting  
and blurring the built memories —
the bitter bite of love.  

That kernel spot is now extending 
over my grandma’s mind  
as she slowly forgets 
the bitter and the sweet.  

My grandma, the last link 
to the complex simplicity  
of remembered childhood, 
of the pecan’s solid husk.  

Aubrey Brady

Aubrey Brady has a BA in Music from Covenant College and is currently pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing with an emphasis in poetry at Lindenwood University. Her work has previously been published at Solum Literary Press, Book of Matches, and Ekstasis. Aubrey lives in Montana with her husband, Matthew, and their two children. 

Headshot: Aubrey Brady

Photo Credit: Staff