My Favorite Spoon
- Surviving Breast Cancer
- Jul 30
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 6
By Ida Goeckel
September 2023
I.
I never use a rounded oversized tablespoon
For soup
Nor a small narrow teaspoon for cereal
Like Goldilocks
I use an in between sized sugar spoon
Petite, but wide enough
For a satisfying, just right mouthful
I only have one
I use no other spoon to eat
The others wait with bated breath in the drawer
And hope they will be called to other active duties
I also prefer salad forks to dinner forks
And unless I cook pasta and sauce,
Which, is preferred in larger portions,
I almost always use a sandwich plate
And bless the genius who invented
The bagel guillotine
Cutting even halves with a serrated knife
Was never in my skill set
I never bother to pull out
The fancy spreading knifes
When a butter knife will do
Juice glasses
Suffice for wine
Neatly stacked cups and saucers eye
My oft used mugs
Jealously from the cupboard
II.
A creature of habit
In my OCD world
Inanimate objects and tasks carry energy
And I make important daily decisions
About which eating utensil
Which drinking vessel
Which pen
Which medium
Which item
On my to-do list
Will have the honor
Of being chosen above the others
I establish order in
My domestic domain
III.
Everything has a purpose
And a place
Everything must have equitable distribution
Like how I arrange my place setting
At the table
How my garden beds,
Like matching bookends,
Are designed symmetrically
When I buy a decorative garden item
I usually languish
Over whether I can live with only one
Usually though, they are bought in twos
IV.
Breast cancer has had a way
Of making me feel
Like my world is not correctly calibrated
My control
A charade and
Overruled by medical recommendations
As a mature seasoned woman
Specialists and surgeons often pretend to care
About my need for a matched pair
When to them
It’s perceived as trivial and superficial
For someone of my age
I no longer possess
A perfect set of twins
And opportunities
To remedy this
Have been primarily disappointing
Looking in the mirror,
My alignment thrown off kilter,
I choose my spoon with intent
About the Author:
Ida Goeckel is a poet, musician, philosopher, humorist, and two-time poster child for early detection and breast cancer survivor, who had been diagnosed with DCIS in 2003 and 2012. In 2013, via genetic testing, it was determined that she was BRCA mutation positive. In both cases, she had a lumpectomy, followed by radiation treatment, 5 days/week for 8 weeks. She also is the author of a chapbook entitled Haiku Madness, published by Foothills Publishing in 2018. All the proceeds from this chapbook are donated to an annual benefit that she founded and organizes called Female Musicians Fighting Breast Cancer. October 2025 will mark 22 years that this event has been held to raise funds for the Resource Center at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, N.Y. To learn more about this event and Ida’s story, please visit www.benefitfmfbc.org
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