Necessary Salt

A poem by Joy Sullivan and a photograph by Tove Jansson

Photograph by Tov Jansson

My mother says kissing a man without a mustache is like eating eggs without salt

Which is a better way of saying — take the scenic route.

Say I love you when it’s true. Drive 12 hours just to touch.

Buy kumquats because they’re called kumquats. Call

someone you love a little kumquat. Write letters. Recite

poems. Be verklempt. Rise ea…