Strawberries, hulled, on a cutting board. Waffle weave kitchen towel in background. Japanese butcher knife in foreground. Photo by Diana Ludwick (c) 2026.
2026 Poetry Challenge - Poems

Lost

Another Snow Day
I’ll be kind, make a hot meal.
Saw through day-old baguette
Pain perdu.

Whisk eggs cream vanilla spice salt
Soak holey oblongs
Heat pan
Skate butter
Ferry saturated slices over to pan
Sizzle to satisfaction.

Child arrives
I sense her beside me.
I’m making French toast!
I say.

No response
except
I hear
dry cereal hit ramekin.

For you
I clarify.
I see that
she parries.

Fickle.

I have an abundance
I guess I’ll meal prep.

Shuttle golden
crisped slabs to plate
Make scrambled custard
from remaining soaking batter.

Sit
by
my
self.

Hear a rustle in the kitchen
See a form hover by the counter
Noisy mastication fills the air
Mmmm! She says.

Without prodding
she joins me at the table
with a plate heaped with toast and egg.
Thanks Mom this is great!

Trust the process

This morning
neither bread
nor love
is lost.

Poet, writer, photographer and slightly distracted day-dreamer who muses on (gestures at everything) from the petty to the profound. On a semi-serious, fully earnest search for meaning in the mayhem. Perimenopausal, melanin-deprived, irony-enhanced recovering perfectionist Type A+ millennial woman. She balances the ever-continuing quest to Know Better/Do Better, with the distinct ego-death of parenting a smart, full-throated child who was raised to know the power of her voice. Mothering a teen means catching a side-eye in almost every interaction. Diana navigates the minutiae of everyday life through seeking the magical in the mundane. Follow along and laugh with her as the world flames out!

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