In February of 2024, we released our fifth Open Call: Using art, letters, stories, and poetry, tell us: how might we create healthy spaces and places for all? The following is a art submission we received from this open call.

“I love making soup—starting with the delightful odor of olive oil and garlic—and calmly cutting what vegetables are in the fridge and cellar. Each ingredient adds to the whole, making a unique treat each time. Soup is comforting and nutritious, and its presence in my life is sustaining. Add crusty bread and a glass of wine, and the table becomes a place of contentment.”

Cheryl Keeler

“Soup Nights”

These are soup nights,
after long-limbed shadows
on the lawn at noon,
after frost thick on car
windows, early, when Maxine
and I leave for our river walk.
Deep invitation of onions
in olive oil, fresh garlic
from the garden, chiming in,
the soup pot steaming
with noodles, and turkey broth
from last year’s Thanksgiving.
Warmth in a ladle—blow, sip,
swallow—a ritual
of long nights and wool
blankets tucked around my legs,
a glass of red wine my husband
chose from the cellar, glinting
as the table lamp glows.
My husband’s hair is thinning
and I am growing thick.
Forty years of soup making,
dipping and sipping as years pass.
Out the tall windows
we can see the darkness shelter
what we do not know,
then, turn back to the lit table
where the soup waits, hot and good.

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