penny pasta

my mother filed an insurance
claim once
for a few gallons of red
sauce
she made and put into
the freezer.
a storm knocked out the power
and it all went
bad.
she talked about the labor
she put into stirring
the sauce
over a hot stove.
the dicing of onions
and the hand made meat
balls.
she went to great
lengths with the adjuster
on the phone, detailing out
the process
of making her red sauce.
i'm sure it made him hungry
for pasta, for his own
mother, his own
childhood home, but she never
got a penny.