MY MOTHER’S COCONUT SHORTCAKE COOKIES

One cookie, light as a floating bubble, sets me swinging side to side –
Her side to her side –
Another! I tap on the top of her sternum. Eat another!
But she watches her weight, and besides is not in the least
Self-indulgent.
I have to wait for years to have another,
Until I have teeth, in fact,
And she bakes them for a neighbor who waves one over my head and says,
“Like eating air!”

“I have to tell you they contain half a pound of butter,”
My mother corrects her,
“Not to mention two cups of flour, three tablespoons of sugar,
One cup of shredded coconut, and one teaspoon of vanilla.”
The plate goes around and at last one comes my way.
It is by far the best thing I have ever had in my mouth.
“More!” I hold my hands out.
Her head begins to shake from side to side.
“Enough is enough,” she says.
But her enough is deprivation to me.

--Martha Moffett