Grandma's Cookies

Every year at Chanukah,
Like from divine command,
My grandma made the cookies
All her grandkids would demand.

These humble sugar dainties,
Cut in shapes and rolled out thin,
Served as harbinger that Chanukah
Could finally begin.

But each one, crisp and delicate,
Came with the possibility
That part of it would snap away,
Because of its fragility.

So lions rarely kept their tails
And candles lost their flames.
The sturdy dreidels, still intact,
Were prized for lack of maims.

A colored sugar dusting
Coated each and every shape.
From sugar sparkles on your clothes
You never could escape.

My grandma passed her cutters down
To me, and so I strive,
With floured hands, to help to keep
Her recipe alive.

Today I gamely baked a batch;
My kids made the request.
I picture grandma’s smiling face
And think she’d be impressed.