The Cake Makers
by Beverly Jackson
“The historical sense involves a perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence” ― T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets
In the heat of a large country kitchen,
(think back to Southern plantations
with sideboards and planked floors
live oaks silhouetted at the windows
sunrays dappling a farmhouse table
in the middle of a steamy room.)
A dozen aproned aunties-skin black
as cast-iron pots, – kerchiefs ‘round their hair
sit on wooden chairs- animated, laughing,
spilling soft gossip with rolling eyes.
Palmetto hand fans push against the
Rising waves of heavenly scents.
Newly-baked cakes. Lemon and coconut,
vanilla and chocolate doesy-doe on the air.
Pastel frosting gleams in bowls:
soft peach, butter-yellow, and pink.
I am being summoned by the senses,
But history’s call is not a dream.
It begs to be remembered not as the glow of
Pastel icing on strong African hands,
But in bloody red and the sepia tearstains of
antebellum walls. The Cake Makers beckon me.
Come make the cakes, they call. We’ll teach you how.
The time has finally come for you to learn.
Come, they titter, come.
Beverly A. Jackson’s short fiction has been nominated for BASS (Best American Short Stories) and Pushcart Prizes; Her work appears in over eighty print and online literary venues. Her poetry chapbook “Every Burning Thing” and her 2-volume memoir, “Loose Fish”, are available on Amazon, and her first novel “The Eye of Hachiman” will be published in 2019. www.beverlyajackson.com
What surprising, fascinating stuff can you tell us about the origin, drafting, and/or final version of “The Cake Makers”? The recession of 2008 was still hard at work in 2014 when I lost two homes ( one, my dream house for retirement). It was not a good time in my life, and I began dreaming uneasy dreams. One odd and persistent dream made me question its meaning, and became a daydream ultimately finding its way to paper. Since the world today gives me great anxiety regarding our country, our politics, and many of our people, I reconnected to the poem in new ways. History has a way of pushing in on us in mysterious ways. Poetry and dreams both carry secrets, hiding places for all those warnings that are not understood, but come to light with time.
Check out the write-up of the journal in The Writer.
Matter Press recently released titles from Meg Boscov, Abby Frucht, Robert McBrearty, Tori Bond, Kathy Fish, and Christopher Allen. Click here.
Matter Press is now offering private flash fiction workshops and critiques of flash fiction collections here.
Submissions
Poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction/prose poetry submissions are now closed. The reading period for standard submissions opens again September 15, 2025. Submit here.
Upcoming
05/04 • Leath Tonino
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05/25 • Clayton Eccard
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