By Alexandra Compton
Today I learned about gravestone recipes
the practice of etching our signature
dish at our final resting place.
The greatest gift my grandma gave me
was her basic white bread recipe
because every time I make it
my home is filled with her love
and memories of us baking together.
I share this presence with my family
baking loaves to break with my sisters
on days we wish we could share with her.
It is how my fiancé met my grandma
through a warm slice of bread
and my memories of her, recalled
in a sweet-smelling haze of loaves and love.
Together, we baked much more than just bread
but it was this I always begged to make with her
whether it was the taste or her time or her trust
in me of this legacy, I couldn’t get enough.
It is this that would be her gravestone recipe
if she had one, but instead it is me
who has been trusted to continue this tradition.
All of our celebrations center on sharing food
these moments of memory trapped in crumbs
for us to chew on when the years have long been swallowed.
I wonder what people will remember me by
be it a cake or a book or perhaps this elegiac bread
will I leave a legacy of love in my wake?
Alexandra Compton (b. 1999) is a writer and artist from Glasgow, Scotland. Her debut poetry pamphlet, A Thousand Binding Moments (Bookleaf Publishing), was published in 2022 and her visual poetry installation, In the Folds, was exhibited at Glasgow Women’s Library in 2025.