You Ask About Ham
by Lori Levy
For Amy Hulce Casillas, RIP (September 3, 2018)

So what if I’m Jewish?
I love when you invite us to your Christmas dinner.
I love your honey-baked ham, your baked beans,
your salads and cakes and cookies.
I love the fire in your hearth, the scented candles you light,
the ornaments and glitter, the stars, the colored lights.
I love the Baby’s Breath you weave through your tree,
the boxes beneath it, the red ribbons and bows,
the bright wrapping paper.
I love the daughter you’ve raised—
and the man my son’s become with her at his side.
I love the granddaughter we share,
the way she reaches for my necklace,
wriggles fingers to your song.

I come to you for festivity. For sparkle and flame.
For the table we gather round and the sofas
we sink into. For laughter and conversation.
Call it Christmas. Call it Hanukkah.
Call it candles and lights.
Praise the union of our families.
Praise latkes and ham.

"You Ask About Ham," was first published in Your Daily Poem on December 8, 2018.

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