Grandma's Secret Meatball Recipe Poem by Bryan Corbett

my mom finally relinquished
grandma's secret meatball recipe
it arrived in the mail yesterday
i tore open the envelope
and looked at the ingredients:

plain bread crumbs
milk
olive oil
onion, diced
ground beef
ground pork
eggs
fresh parsley, chopped
garlic, crushed
salt
ground black pepper
red pepper flakes
dried Italian herbs seasoning
grated Parmesan

nowhere on the card
could I find the quantities
of each ingredient written

not on the front of the card
not on the back
i called my mom
immediately

'mom?
what quantities
of which ingredient?
mom?
Mom! ? '

'Mom! ? '

she said:
'You'll know, dear. You'll just know.'

dial tone...