KITCHEN TALK

28 March 2026

Mar 28, 2026

Tess Gallagher grew up in Port Angeles, Washington, where her family worked in the logging industry. In the poem that follows, she records her father’s 3:00 am monologue in all its crisp un-self-pitying detail, its understated bitterness and grit.

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

“3:00am Kitchen: My Father Talking” by Tess Gallagher (b.1943)

For years it was land working me, oil fields,
cotton fields, then I got some land. I
worked it. Them days you could just about
Make a living. I was logging.

Then I sent out to Missouri, Momma 
came out. We got married,
We got some kids. Five kids.
That kept us going.

We bought some land near the water.
It was cheap then. The water
was right there. You just looked out
the window. It never left the window.

I bought a boat. Fourteen footer.
There was fish out there then
You remember, we used to catch
six, eight fish, clean them right
out in the yard. I could of fished to China.

I quit the woods. One day just
walked out, took off my corks, said that’s
it. I went to the docks.
I was driving winch. You had to watch
to see nothing fell out of the sling. If
you killed somebody, you’d
never forget it. All
those years I was just working
I was on edge, every day. Just working.

You kids. I could tell you
a lot. But I won’t.
It’s winter. I play a lot of cards
down at the tavern. Your mother.
I have to think of excuses
to get out of the house. You’re
wasting your time, she says. You’re 
wasting your money

You don’t have no idea, Threasie.
I run out of things
To work for. Hell, why shouldn’t I 
play cards, Threasie,
some days now I just don’t know.

What a poem—so raw, so poignant, so courageous! Reading it reminds us, over and over, that a poem doesn’t need to be a “made” thing. It can be pulled out of the air, listened into existence, set down on the page just the way that it is spoken. Do you know someone whose story calls to you? Can you make a time to sit with them and listen?

ONGOING AND UPCOMING EVENTS WITH CHRISTIAN

World Enough & Time:
Writing & Meditation, Creativity & Slowing Down

For close to eight years, a small group of us have been meeting via Zoom one evening a week. Each session begins with a brief meditation, followed by a reading and discussion (Ada Limón, Jane Hirshfield, Ocean Vuong…) after which everyone writes for 25-30 minutes. How did that go? For the last fifteen minutes we listen to what each other has to say.

Thursday evenings: 6:15pm to 8:15pm EST via Zoom