Mama's Best Recipe

Down a road of red dust in Africa’s Pearl,

Lies the best little eatery in all the world!

Don’t be fooled by its looks, for it’s just wood and nails,

But the woman who cooks in this hut never fails.

Her face is sun-leathered, and ever she smiles.

She’ll offer you tea and to chat for a while.

Matooke and g-nuts, your tastebuds beguile --

That’s plantains and peanut sauce – Uganda style!

Today you are her honored guest from afar,

So you’ll get the fish head – how lucky you are!

Have manners and eat up the eye first of all,

That amber, gelatinous, delicate ball.

Scoop it out with your fingers and give it a jiggle,

Then swallow it down, but don’t let your mouth wiggle!

The children all watching you struggle will giggle

To see how your eyebrows crease into a squiggle.

The woman will smile and nod, satisfied,

Then take up her plate and come sit by your side.

She speaks of the weather and asks, “How is life?”

She speaks words of wisdom that came at a price.

Listen well to her wisdom, survival it is:

Rebel soldiers murdered her husband and kids.

“I thought I would die,” she confessed once to me,

“A future without them I just couldn’t see.

“Then, after I cried, ever slowly I stood.

“They can’t take my power; I’ll use mine for good.”

Now she’s called “Mama” to neighbors and friends.

She serves meals of comfort and graciously bends

To lift up our spirits -- “Food talks,” so she’ll say --

And she never sends anyone hungry away.

What moral is learned from my dear friend, the cook?

Goodness is there if you’re willing to look.

Happy is there if you’re willing to be.

That’s the secret to Mama’s best recipe.

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I lived in Uganda for ten years, and during that time I was lucky enough to know the strong woman of whom I write. "Mama Ruth" was filled with an unquantifiable dignified grace that she fought to possess through many struggles. She kindly served and supported her neighbors and friends in her village, as she told me, "To bring more and more good to blot out the bad." She passed away peacefully, surrounded by her "heart children"-- the many children in whose lives she became a mother figure. The scope of the lives impacted by her generosity and leadership is impossible to quantify. The world at large won't remember her, but she held a greater treasure than the richest of kings: her love, as expressed in many ways, one of which being her cooking.

This was written for a challenge from Rick Henry on the Vocal+ Assist Facebook page. I went well over the word limit, but thought it was worth it. https://www.facebook.com/groups/vocalplusassist