Former psychology researcher, writer, editor, 
lecturer Patricia Wellingham-Jones is widely published in journals, 
anthologies and online. She won the 2003 Reuben Rose International Poetry Prize (Israel), 
grand prize in Apollo's Lyre Surprise Poetry Slam contest, 2004, and second place
in Long Story Short Women’s Issues contest, 2004. She is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee.

 

Innocent Excess  

The summer I was twelve
Grandmother Mackintosh let me eat six
baked potatoes for dinner,
her white hair wisping from its neat bun,
hands folded in her lap, lips prim
under the twinkle in her eyes.

Aunt Mary gave me three
servings of strawberry shortcake.
On her farmer’s table
no vegetables lurked that night.
She ladled fresh whipped cream 
and sweet redness with a generous hand.

Long grown, I add candlelight
to baked beans and cornbread, fill bowls 
as many times as young stomachs demand,
send another batch of kids into the world
knowing how to make a feast 
with what they have.