Hot Pot Magazine

By Cheryl Rebello

Nana would keep yesterday’s pao
in the rice chatee,
alongside yesterday’s rice—its fluffy days behind.
There—it would reheat.
There—it would soften,
trying to reclaim what it once was.
Often succeeding.

Cheryl Rebello (she/her) is a writer and poet from India. She loves writing and cannot be trusted around chai. Her work is forthcoming in Celestite Poetry. She avoids tweeting at @cheruwritesalot.