Love Language
Love Language
by Alyssa Janel Marrero
You cook me dinner
aromatics of crushed garlic and vinegar, marinating in soy sauce.
My hunger growing restless,
as I watch you braise for hours.
The rice cooker releasing tendrils of steam, cradling me in its soft caress.
And I imagine your hands doing the same like they did when I was younger,
and easier to love.
With ingredients, you tell me words left unsaid. The surprise bitterness of peppercorn,
The salty-sweet tender cuts of meat.
If apology had a flavor,
It would be this.
You hold my hand, asking how it tastes.
It brings me back, into the comfort of your familiar embrace. And forgiveness is eating jasmine rice
and this meal, your adobo, with you.
Alyssa Janel Marrero is a second generation Filipino-American currently living in North Carolina, USA with her husband. She works as a registered dietitian nutritionist, working with families and clients to improve their relationship with food and empowering them to celebrate their cultural foods. She has also worked as a nanny and a piano teacher. She is excited to explore the world of writing to add to her hobbies of; tending to her plants, learning how to cook Filipino food from her dad, and gaming with her loved ones.
