Peppermint Crystals

Peppermint Crystals

Tiny droplets dancing on spoons
Promising sweetness and memories
As Momma stirred the sticky substance
All morning long and into early afternoon

She said it took time
For anything good to come
Smiling in her understanding way
Momma gazed at my brother's face then mine

Sort of like Santa who only came once per year
Peppermint crystals took care
To prepare if all were to be happy
Rushing would only create tears

We didn't understand her, being only three and four
But we didn't question Momma
She knew more than we ever could
And her candy tasted better than the canes from the store

Finally, she laid her spoon to rest
And poured the mighty liquid heaven
Into the pretty shaped molds
Creating the shapes we kids liked best

She said we still had to wait
As she placed the tiny sticks
In the stars and the snowmen and Santa himself
Promising our patience would produce something great

Momma's gone now and brother lives far away
I play her role for my own little cherubs
Who gaze and listen to the stories Momma told me
So long ago, when peppermint crystals were too hard to say

My children and I use our fingers to taste
The sticky syrup that clings to my pan
Anticipating once more the simple suckers
That create the memories we cherish but never waste.