I know why someone would keep recipes,
why someone would cut them out of a magazine
and adhere them to index cards,
But I didn't know why my mother’s recipes were glued
to the back of cards already used,
already written on in my father’s handwriting
as he catalogued
the record albums he owned.
Hot mulled wine on one side,
Weill, “Lost in the Stars”
Decca 8028
Todd Duncan
on the other.
Chickpea Dip on one side,
Gounod - “Faust” arias
Music appreciation 20203
on the other.
While my mother is here to tell me
how she used the backs of the cards
because reusing was what you did
because you couldn't simply go buy more
just because you wanted to,
My father is not here to tell me
what it meant
to catalog record albums.
How did he decide on this activity?
How did he choose to buy index cards
and write down every album
and alphabetize them by title
and keep them in a box?
And how did that box one day become my mother’s?
How was it decided
to turn Donizetti - “Lucia de Lammermoor” arias
Royale 1211
Into Pineapple-Yogurt pudding?
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