Nocino
by Jessica Walters
Each year he says he should really pick the green
walnuts on the eve of the feast of San Giovanni
but they do not ripen as they do in the old country
so he must pick them in late summer.
He will promise to share the nocino at the annual
bonfire, says it will taste of smoked walnuts and maple
syrup. He promises even as he climbs the ladder
and disappears into the tree with leaves as big as spades.
But he will not share. He will savour the liqueur
alone. It will taste of a memory of a longing
for a far off country he has never known.Jessica Walters was a hobby farmer in the Fraser Valley where she raised chickens, foraged for turkey tail mushrooms, and pruned apple trees. Her work has been published in The British Columbia Review, The Brussels Review, Agape Review, Scintilla, Solum, Foreshadow, and her short story “Glass Jars” was shortlisted for the Mitchell Prize for Faith and Writing. She is the review and fiction editor at Radix Magazine. When she is not grading papers, she can be found walking alongside an arm of the Chilliwack River or gardening. Website: jessicamaywalters.ca
