A Little Salt

My grandmother snuck it into every bite
It simmered down under cabbage and likker
Soakin my tongue, puckerin my cheeks
Even after the gout came knockin like a
Neighbor askin for a cup of...

A little salt won't hurt nobody

Grandma piled extra butter, pinch a salt,
Some more sugar whenever she could
Sour cream joined the pineapples
Teasin mandarin oranges with heart stopping taste
She made salads for church, for my brothers, me
Greens with fatback simmered onion skin thin

I heard people say it's food for the soul.
My hesitance stares into the bowl
wonderin if food makes you whole

A little salt won't hurt nobody

Grandma, maybe you were wrong
About food and other things
You always hushed the howlin stomach
My trips to the full freezer safe
Until the stroke, a little bit a salt was sweet

A little salt seeps into the tongue
Salt dissolves, yet it lingers
A little salt won't hurt nobody

- Tara Betts, copyright 1999