Amy Roost
"My Mother’s Bundt Pan"
(after a poem by Dorianne Laux)
Burnt sienna to match the appliances and times
Fat flutes alternating with thin
Creating crannies the Pam never reached
Weary from a brief marriage to Betty Crocker, and a fling with Duncan Hines, they found love with the Pillsbury Dough Boy
When the phallus with a hole rising up from the flutes
Gave them the idea to be themselves
The perfect shape for an ice ring
Floating in the froth of sherbet, 7-up and whatever mom had on hand
Bacardi or Crown Royale working equally well to
Numb the pain of a failed marriage and fast husband
Who left us for the Italian tour guide
Breasts like the big flutes, waist like the small
Never ate—much less baked—a cake
Didn’t wonder, as I did, why mom
Dropped the pan on the countertop before
Sliding it onto the oven rack
Leaving behind peels of orange paint she’d later
Wipe away with a dish cloth, intent on
Scrubbing the crannies in soap suds but not before
Offering me the pan so I could
Excavate the stuck-on crumbs with my fingertip then
Lick away the sweetness, sorrow, and teflon​​​​​​​​​​​​
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MORE ABOUT AMY ROOST
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Amy Roost runs an estate sale company and is a freelance writer residing in Bellingham, Washington. She is the co-editor of two feminist anthologies and recently earned her MFA in creative nonfiction from Pacific University in Oregon.
"Take Your Time," is a flash nonfiction essay that is an excerpt from Amy's memoir-in-progress entitled Replacement Child. The poem is ekphrastic in response to a photo of my mother's bundt pan and after Her poem, "My Mother's Bundt Pan" is inspired by "Mother's Colander" by Dorianne Laux.