Dish of Mashed Peas by Susan Terris

Dish of Mashed Peas

by Susan Terris

(published in her 2019 book, Familiar Tense, and can also be found here on her website)

Some people are not destined for happiness,           

and I may be one of them.

You see, in certain parts of the world where           

I have been and now live,

at least in my dreams, happiness is only             

 granted to a woman 

who leaves a dish of mashed peas out in             

 the moonlight overnight.

But superstition does not name what moon
  ...