5:30 in the morning
beside myself
belly twisting
nothing seeming right
i revert to my childhood
the sure morning routine
of my stepfather
turn on the radio atop the refrigerator
700 WLW no other station will do
make a pot of coffee
whisk the batter in a yellow plastic bowl
and fry pancakes
as aunt jemima stands by the stove
with a syrupy look in her eyes
and i think he does not know
how many times
this ritual saved my life
3 replies on “the sure morning routine of my stepfather”
5:30, that’s early, but I’ll take it. I have to wonder how such a thing saved your life, but I’d rather just imagine. Thanks for the pancakes… I was dying for breakfast.
His daily stoicism, his absolute and unwavering sanity…it was one of the few concrete and stable things about my childhood.
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Understood. Great to have those pillars in life.