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The Late Great Cookies of Christmas
by
Joyce Sutphen


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I thought of this at the Mall of America
last night--—after we'd given up on Christmas

shopping and gone to a restaurant for pizza
and very large glasses of wine, which is

why we were at the Caribou coffee shop
waiting in line to order a dark-roast blend

and happened to overhear two women talking
about making Christmas cookies. And though

I did stay up until one in the morning last
week making Christmas spritz, and even

though I made a pan of fudge yesterday,
I still felt sad about all the cookies I would

never bother to make again: Russian tea
cakes, those little thumb-prints with the

Hershey's kiss pressed into their faces,
white sugar cookies frosted and sprinkled

with red and green glitter, peanut brittle
and almond bark, pretzels dipped in white

chocolate, and--—oh, the one everyone
loved—--balls of peanut butter, Rice Krispies,

and powdered sugar, dipped in chocolate
melted with a sliver of wax to make them shine.

© by Joyce Sutphen.
Used with the author's permission.

 


 

Joyce Sutphen is the author of multiple award-winning books of poetry, and co-editor of To Sing Along the Way, an anthology of Minnesota women poets. Professor emerita of English at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, and former Poet Laureate of Minnesota, she has garnered multiple fellowships and residencies in the course of her poetry career. The oldest of nine children, Joyce is mother to three daughters and has six grandchildren. She loves both prairie and city and says "a perfect afternoon for me would be a long walk around the big marsh behind my house, or a ramble through Holland Park in London." A fan of Shakespeare, Joyce often uses her commute time to memorize poems by favorite poets.

                   

Post New Comment:
Jo:
Joyce, You are one of my favorite poets. I have all your books. This poem reminds me of my own thinking about cookies this year. I made the fruitcake, and cherry winks and called it a day. Thanks so much. Jo
Posted 12/20/2010 03:39 PM
loisflmom:
Some year I may make all those wonderful cookies again, when I no longer care if my jeans fit,or when my grandchildren want to know how we celebrated Christmas "way back when--" Until then, I will buy one package of refrigerated cookie dough, and that will have to do.
Posted 12/20/2010 01:16 PM


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