Portside

my mother who was born in Susanville, California
prosperous logging town not far from Reno
grew up poor the daughter of Basque immigrants
whose father spent months far away in roadless
barren country herding sheep
whose apron-clad mother stood by the iron stove
prodding a soup out of one sausage
one onion and six peeled potatoes for herself
and four children

I used to watch my mother peel potatoes at the sink
holding each one carefully as she turned it
what are you making, Mom
I knew her answer: beef stew
I saw the large chunks of meat in the pot
her hands held and turned each potato
she dug out flesh around each eye
so many dismembered eyes falling into the sink
why do you cut out every one so patiently
I think of my mother she’d say
it was the way she saved as much potato as she could

Nels Goñi Christianson is a native of rural Merced County from which he draws much inspiration for his poetry. He was a board member of CalPoets from 2009-2023. A few years ago, he co-coordinated a 2-year poetry composition program which was a CalPoets/Beyond Baroque collaboration in Venice, California.