july 2023

 

Crookneck Squash Grows in Texas...

I’ve been in Toronto
Since 1976
And I no longer
Live without tacos
Or okra.
For about 10 years
I could even get
Gebhardt’s Chili Quik
At Kensington Market…
But since that ended
The internet provided me
With a recipe I can make
For myself.
I even have places to get
Mexican chorizo
And real corn tortillas…
Even masa harina
Should I want to make my own
Using my cute red tortilla press.
And I can even get Texas-style BBQ
Delivered to my door!

But one of the things I
Continue to miss is
Yellow crookneck squash.
Like these that Phoebe’s sister Sally
Still grows at her
East Texas home.
These blossoms will very soon
Erupt into buttery yellow goodness
Like this

 

My mum used to slice them
And steam them
And serve them with a bit
Of freshly squeezed lime juice.



One day in 1962
I played with my food…
Sketching what became
This cast sterling silver pendant.



Oh, Toronto…
Please tell me where I can get
Me some yellow crookneck squash.
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

For Teresa

 

Teresita Patricia Gonzalez Magnon
March 17, 1949 ~ June 27, 2023

Noren: indigo


Split curtains from Japan,
Hang in doorway.


Custom dictates that


We bow as we pass through...
Show respect for


Place left behind…
And place entered.


In response


Noren sway in breeze...


Give visual evidence


Of our journey.

Teresita, you have been


The warm breeze


To the noren of my life.


Each time we met


I was refreshed and renewed...
I was nurtured and ennobled...
I was affirmed and valued.

With you I found


Inspiration and joy.
We shared our interests
In books, movies, and TV shows.
Through you I learned
Of the plight of those
You were committed to helping
All over the world.

Teresita, you personified
Hope and confidence
In life’s infinite capacity
To renew itself...
And not always to take
Itself just too, too seriously.

Thank you, my dear, dear amiga.


We are all humbled by your
Passing breeze.

~

Bette Forester


Toronto, 1 July 2023

~

Image: Summer Delight

by Teresa Gonzalez

Acrylic on Canvas

2019