in the tiny cabin kitchen
looking for a spatula
to turn the grilled cheeses
when I come across a set
of silver braided nutcrackers
In a flash I am sitting
near the stone fireplace
at Christmastime
seven years old and marveling
at how quickly my father
can shell the pecans
and uncover the bumpy
flesh of the walnuts
that we all agree
look like tiny brains
Now here it sits
the hand powered appliance
looking foreign in its antiquity
and I can't help but think
that no child today
would be able to identify
the strange two-legged utensil
Nuts come in green cans
on supermarket shelves
don't they?
I determine then and there
to track down a set and buy it
so that my children will know
that not everything in life
comes pre-shelled and easy
but sometimes it tastes better
when you crack it yourself
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